


The Gorgeous Man

by MTT_Gwen



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Coran Coran The Gorgeous Man, Don't Judge Me, F/M, Fluff, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, M/M, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-11
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-05-05 03:01:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 26,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14607819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MTT_Gwen/pseuds/MTT_Gwen
Summary: After being saved by Voltron you find yourself stuck on the Castle of Lions until you can fix your ship. While the paladins do their own thing you often find yourself with Coran. As your friendship grows so do new feelings.





	1. New Friends

**Author's Note:**

> I love Coran so freaking much and I decided to write this because why not. Don't judge me. Also time lines might mix and cross a little. This story starts like in between season 4 and 5. I'm trying my best.

You were screwed to say the least. You managed to escape a heated battle just outside a Galra base on a planet called Ninjita. However, your ship was damaged. There was nothing you could do but send out a distress call. You tried keeping yourself calm knowing the air supply was low. Any breath could be your last. 

You stared into the dark abyss of space hoping to see a light coming to you. Your lungs burned as you took shallow breaths. You didn’t have to look at the gauge to know your air supply was dangerously low. Your vision began to darken. Before you slipped out of consciousness, you heard a loud roar in the distance. 

Everything went dark. You couldn’t hear or see or even think. 

Then you felt yourself breathing again. Your eyes were too heavy to open, but you could hear. There was a group of people talking. Their words were muffled a bit, but you could understand that they were talking about you. 

“Guys! They’re breathing!” one of the voices said halting the others. You began to open your eyes. You were in some sort of pod surrounded by a group of what looked like teenagers. The pod opened and you stumbled out of it. 

“Take it easy,” the small one in green said. “You’re safe now.”

“Where am I?” You managed to ask.

“You’re in the Castle of Lions,” a man said from behind the teenagers. “I’m Shiro. This is Pidge, Lance, and Hunk.” 

“Oh thank goodness,” you breathed a sigh of relief. “Everything is so bright and shiny here I thought I died and went to Heaven.”

“Are you sure that’s not where you fell from? Because you are an angel,” Lance flirted. You just let out a small laugh.

“ Anyways… I’m (Y/n). Now if you can point me in the direction of my ship I will gladly repair it and be on my way.” You said. 

“I don’t think that will happen right now,” Pidge chimed in. “Before I could get to you a Galra fleet started coming and let’s just say I could only save the half of your ship with you in it.”

“Awe man, I built that thing from scratch,” you groaned. “Oh well. I built it once I can build it again. Thanks for getting me out of there, Pidge.” 

“Okay, I just have to ask this because I don’t think anyone else is going to right now.” Hunk said. “Are you human? Like from Earth?”

“Yes actually,” You said. You were surprised. Of course the group looked human, but you had been in space long enough. You knew just because it looked and sounded human didn’t mean it was. “You guys too?” You asked. 

“Yeah,” Lance said. “How did you get way out here?”

“Alien abduction.” You explained. “I was really young when it happened. I was taken with my mom and I grew up in space. What about you guys?”

“Well, Shiro was abducted by the Galra along with Pidge’s dad and brother. Then he came back to Earth and we kind of kidnapped him with our friend Keith. Then we found a magical blue lion that took us here where we met Coran and Allura who said we had to find the other lions and for a giant robot called Voltron. Now we’re paladins,” Hunk rambled. 

“Wait, you guys are the paladins of Voltron?” You asked. “That’s sick! I’d only heard legends about Voltron then word spread that it was back! This is so cool.”

The paladins explained their whole journey in further detail. They talked about Shiro going missing and Keith leaving to join the Blade of Marmora. They also mentioned Prince Lotor who was currently imprisoned on the ship. Pidge talked about how she managed to find her brother, but her dad was still missing. 

Eventually, they walked you to the control room so you could meet Princess Allura and Coran. Princess Allura was the only one in there. She was a sight to behold. She looked to be in her twenties, but from what the paladins told you, she was over 10,000 years old. 

“I see our guest is finally awake,” Allura said. 

“It’s an honor to meet you, Princess Allura,” you said. “I’ve heard a lot about you in the five minutes I’ve been conscious. I’m (y/n).”

“It’s nice to meet you, and I insist you stay in the Castle of Lions until you can get your ship up and running.” Allura smiled. She was so pretty it almost hurt to look at her. 

“I don’t want to be a burden,” you laughed. “You can drop me at the nearest trading post or swap moon.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Pidge chimed in. “You had some stolen Galra tech in your ship. If the Galra find you and you don’t have your ship together you’re toast.”

“Pidge is right, you really should stay,” Allura said. 

You thought for a second. They were right. You had stolen from the Galra and if they caught you, you were totally dead. The thought of living in a castle didn’t seem bad at all and it was only until you finished your ship. You decided to stay. 

Pidge showed you to your ship so you could get working as soon as possible. She and Hunk also showed you where you could get parts for it. Working on your ship was therapeutic for you. You built that ship yourself and it meant a lot to you. It would be a lot of work to get it going again. Both engines were missing and so was half of the fuel tank. You immediately grabbed a few things and began working on building an engine. 

You didn’t even notice time passing. Being in space made telling time hard in general. There was no sun to race across the sky and create night and day. When you were focused on a single task it made it harder to tell the time. 

You felt the need for sleep begin to set in. Just as you were about to stop, the door opened. A man with orange hair and an orange moustache stepped in.

“Oh, hello,” he said. “You must be (y/n). I’m Coran. I’m sure the paladins have told you about me.” The paladins did mention him briefly. 

“Aw yes, the gorgeous man,” you chuckled. “I hope you aren’t here to tell me I’ve broken curfew or something because I don’t really know where my room is.”

“I can show you to where you will be staying if you’d like. I’m just here to check on things.” He said. “I do this every night.”

“Good, you can be my reminder to sleep,” you joked. “You’re Altean right?” 

“Yes, I am. One of the last of my kind,” he said. You wanted to ask more, but you didn’t want to pry. It must have been hard for Coran and Allura to wake up one day and learn their entire race was wiped from the universe. 

You asked Coran to show you to your room. You followed him quietly listening to a story about Coran’s time in boot camp. He was such a wise man. It was easy to get lost in his voice. Before reaching your room Coran showed you where his was just in case you needed anything. Your room was just down the hall from his. 

The room wasn’t big, but it was more than enough. There was a small closet space and a rather comfortable bed. It was larger than the space you had to sleep in your ship so it was nice to stretch out to sleep for once. The unfamiliar space didn’t bother you. It was the Castle of Lions after all. In any sign of danger Voltron would kick ass. After spending a few minutes trying to figure out how to work the light, you finally got it off and crawled into bed.


	2. Wake Up Call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be updating this as I write it. I really love Coran and I'm happy other people love him too. He deserves more love.

You were thrown from your bed causing you to wake up. Without thinking you left your room and bolted to the control room. Coran was the only one in there. You could see the lions of Voltron through the window. They were fighting with Galra ships. You could hear the paladins talking through the speakers. The castle shook knocking you off balance. 

“The particle barrier is down.” Coran said. 

“This fight won’t last much longer anyways,” Shiro said. “We almost have them.” 

You watched as the lions individually took out the fleet. You didn’t get to see Voltron this time, but it was still incredible to watch the lions fight. It was also interesting to see Coran in the fight. He was so focused. 

When the fight finished, the lions zoomed back to the castle. Coran turned to see you. 

“Goodmorning,” Coran smiled. “Sorry if I woke you. Getting hit in battle is pretty inevitable.” 

The doors opened and the paladins entered. They all looked really cool in their armour. They looked more official. 

“Another base is down. Lotor was right again,” Shiro said. 

“That doesn’t mean we can trust him just yet,” Allura scoffed. It wasn’t hard to understand why Allura wouldn’t trust Prince Lotor. He was the son of the enemy. This could all just be one big trap. 

While awkwardly listening to Allura and Shiro have a small argument you felt a tug at your sleeve. You looked at Hunk and he motioned for you to follow him. You did. Pidge, Lance, and Coran followed as well. 

“Sometimes Allura and Shiro argue and it can get awkward for the rest of us so we just kind of sneak out of the room.” Hunk explained.

“But it’s only when we aren’t involved or don’t want to get involved.” Lance added. “Sometimes they just have to get it out. Also is anyone else hungry? I’m starving.”

“I can make us something real quick.” Hunk said. 

You hadn’t really realized it, but you were starving too. You hadn’t eaten in a while. It would be nice to have another human cook for you for once. You ate a lot of weird stuff in space and not all of it was good for humans to eat. At least you wouldn’t get poisoned. 

Hunk made some weird food goo, but it didn’t taste too bad. After eating Lance, Pidge, and Hunk went to Pidge’s room to play some video game. You stayed with Coran for a while.

“I still can’t believe those kids are the paladins of Voltron,” you said. “It’s crazy. They’re all so young, but they have such a huge responsibility. The entire universe depends on them. It kind of makes me feel so small. I’m just some drifter with a ship, and these kids are defending entire galaxies.”

“We all have our purposes. We all have our place in the universe.” Coran looked down for a second. “I’m the only one on this team that hasn’t piloted a lion, but I’m also the only one here to pilot the ship in battle. I may not be a paladin, but I have my purpose and so do you.”

“I just wish I knew what my purpose was,” you said. “Anyways, I should keep working on my ship.”

“I can help you if you’d like. I’m quite the mechanic. Some call me the Coranic.” He smiled. You laughed a little. You took him up on his offer to help. 

“Hey Coranic,” you called from under your ship, “do you guys by any chance have any crystals or anything that can refract solid light?” 

“We might have an extra scaultrite lense or two. I can go check,” Coran said. “And if not, I can see if Hunk can make an artificial lense again.”

“Hunk made artificial scaultrite?!” You said hitting your head. You groaned as you moved out from under the ship. Coran was already at your side.

“Are you okay?” He asked. 

“I’m fine,” you lied. You touched where you hit your head and it felt wet. You looked at your hand and saw blood on it. “Oh crap. I guess I hit something sharp. I’ll be fine though.” Coran helped you to your feet. You opened your ship and grabbed a little first aid kit. You grabbed a large adhesive bandage and stuck it on your forehead over the cut. “Anyways, Hunk made artificial scaultrite? That’s awesome!”

“They didn’t work perfectly with our teludav, but I’m sure they could work for a smaller ship like yours. I’ll go see what we have,” With that Coran left. 

You decided to take a break from you ship while Coran was gone. You sat on the floor with your back against the wall near the door. After a few minutes, Princess Allura walked into the room and you immediately got to your feet to greet her. She was a princess after all. 

“Princess Allura, what are you doing here…? Oh that was rude to ask. This is your castle. Of course you can go anywhere you want…”

“It’s okay,” Allura cut off your rambling. “Coran actually asked me to come sit with you for a moment until he gets back. He said you hit your head and he didn’t want you fainting or anything while he was gone.”

“Oh,” you said almost at a loss for words. “Well, thank you for making sure I’m okay. I’ll be fine, though. I just have a little cut. I’ve had worse. One time I broke my arm helping someone escape a moon prison. I used two metal rods to keep it straight and wrapped it in a bandage. I made a sling out of an old shirt. I was in so much pain.” Allura very obviously forced a smile. 

“So how did you get to space?” Allura asked changing the subject. You went with it. 

“Alien abduction. My mom and I were taken to a colony on an asteroid. It wasn’t a malicious taking. Really it kind of saved us. My father wasn’t the best person.” You explained. “After my mother passed I built a ship and left. I’ve just been traveling since.”

“Well, if you ever need a place to stay the Castle of Lions is open for you,” Allura smiled. 

“Thank you, Princess,” you said. You and Allura chatted a bit. She told you about her father, King Alfor. She spoke very highly of him. Then she mentioned how she had to launch his consciousness from the castle because it was corrupted and was trying to kill everyone. You asked her about Altea and she asked more about Earth. It was nice to just talk and get to know someone for once.

Out in space you weren’t one to stick around anywhere for too long. You made a few acquaintances along the way, but never any real friends. You didn’t want to get tied down anywhere. 

Coran eventually came back with the artificial scaultrite and Allura left to let you and him get back to work. You managed to strap the lense into the engine. You held your breath as you started the ship to see if it would start. It didn’t.

“Crap,” you said. You shut it off and got back under the ship to check the engine. “Hey, Coranic, can you try to start this thing so I can see what’s up?”

“Is that safe with you under there?” Coran asked. 

“Not entirely, but I think I’ll be fine.” You said. 

Coran was hesitant, but he started up the ship. Solid light shot through the artificial scaultrite and refracted into seven different color streams. The colors didn’t line up with their respective entry points.

“Alright you can turn it off,” you called to Coran. You slid out from under the vehicle. “I have to rearrange the ports to match the correct colors.”

“Why don’t you wait until tomorrow to do that,” Coran suggested. “You’ve been working on this all day and it’s getting late. You should probably get something to eat and head to bed.”

Coran was right. You were hungry and tired. You ate with Coran. It seemed like most of the others had already began to turn in for the night. 

“So do you miss Earth?” Coran asked. “I know the paladins still struggle with homesickness sometimes.”

“Truth be told I didn’t know Earth much. I left when I was really little. I miss my mom sometimes.” You sighed. “Do you miss Altea?”

“Everyday,” Coran admitted. “When I went to sleep in the pod a part of me knew it would be the last time I saw Altea. Then I woke up and it was 10,000 deca-phoebs later. Altea had been gone a long time. I still don’t want to believe it. Sometimes I think this is all a dream and I’m still in that pod waiting to wake up and see home again.”

“Damn Coranic, you got me feeling things,” you said trying to lighten the mood. You both let out a small laugh. “Sometimes I wish I could have something like that. A thought of home. I don’t really stay anywhere long enough to call it home. I’m pretty much a space pirate.”

“Well, the castle is always open for you. You’ll always have a room here if you need it.” Coran said smiling. He talked about his adventures as a space pirate. Coran was a wise man full of stories. He had one hell of a life.

After you finished eating, you helped Coran clean up some. You took one last look at your ship before walking with Coran to your room. 

“Hopefully we don’t have as bad of a wake up call as we did this morning,” Coran joked. You said goodnight and then went to bed.


	3. Stay

As soon as you woke up you got to work on your ship. You knew exactly what you had to do to get the engine working and once it was good you could start on the second one. The castle was quiet for a while. You had no idea what time it was. All you knew was that you were wide awake and ready to work. 

You threw yourself into your work. You didn’t even notice when Pidge came in the room until she said something. 

“Hey, (y/n), do you need any help?” Pidge asked. 

“Actually yes! Perfect timing. Can you start up the ship. I want to make sure everything is lined up correctly.” You said. Pidge started up the ship. You watched as the light refracted through the lense and the colors hit their correct ports. The engine groaned and sputtered before actually starting. You slid out from under the ship. “It’s working! Yes!” Pidge shut off the ship. 

“Want any help with the second engine? Or I can start rebuilding the actual ship part.” Pidge offered. 

“Man, you guys are really trying to get rid of me huh?” You laughed. “If you want you can start rebuilding. Thanks.”

“I don’t mean to make it seem like we want you out,” Pidge said. “Your ship just seems cool. Also I don’t really have anything to do.”

“My ship is cool? You’re part of Voltron!” 

“Well, yeah, but I didn’t build my lion from scraps.” she explained as she started on the ship. “You did all of this yourself and you use solid light as wiring and power. Sure it can lead to some nasty burns, but your engine is so well crafted it can keep you safe. This is innovation at its finest. If you hadn’t left Earth our technology would be light years ahead of where it is now.”

“Well, I didn’t figure this all out by myself,” you confessed. “I got the idea for the solid light after seeing it being used to power homes on Mondearon. I did manage to build a machine to make the light by myself through trial and error.”

“See that’s still amazing.” Pidge said. A kid genius complimenting your work meant a lot. Especially since that kid genius was also a paladin of Voltron, the coolest weapon in the known universe. 

Pidge was an awesome help. Eventually Hunk came in too. A lot of work got done. Then Hunk and Pidge forced you to take a break and eat something. You were very thankful to have people around to remind you to eat. Usually you tried to eat at least once a day. Food wasn’t really abundant when you travelled through space. 

“Don’t tell Coran I said this,” you said in between bites, “but your cooking is so much better, Hunk.”

“I’m glad you like it,” Hunk said. “So where are you going from here? Like once your ship is fixed.”

“I… have not figured that out yet to tell the truth,” you said. 

“You could stay here for a while,” Pidge suggested. “It’s a big castle. You already have a room. We can add some blasters to your ship and you can help us in battle. We can use all the help we can get.”

You paused. No one had really asked you to stay before. After years of travelling maybe it would be nice to stop for a while. And if you didn’t like it you could just take off.

“Maybe,” you said. “If it’s okay with everyone.” 

After eating, you made your way back to your room. Your mind was somewhere else. You didn’t really know if you wanted to stay or not. It wasn’t your style to stick around too long, but the castle wouldn’t be a bad home. 

Home.

That word echoed in your mind. Other than your mother, you never knew home. You had your ship, but you weren’t even attached to that. You had to rebuild it so often it might as well have been a whole new ship from what was first built. Maybe it was time to start settling down. It’s not like your adventures would be over. You’d just have a safe place to sleep at night and a place to eat. 

You bumped into Lance causing both of you to pull your heads out of the clouds. 

“Sorry, Lance,” you said shaking off your thoughts. 

“It’s fine,” Lance said with a sigh.

“Are you okay?” You asked. You placed a hand on his shoulder. 

Lance sighed again. “It’s a lot of stuff. Homesickness, stress, other things. When Keith was still on our team I felt like a seventh wheel. Keith is gone now, but I still feel like an extra wheel. Allura has Coran, Pidge and Hunk are best friends, and Shiro has been really weird lately.”

“I can only imagine how tough all of this is for you,” you said. “You’re like what, seventeen? You had to leave your home on Earth to fight an intergalactic battle with zero notice. That’s insane. You’re a hero, Lance. I know what it feels like to be an outsider. It’s lonely. But just to reassure you, I know for a fact Pidge and Hunk love you. They told me about the Garrison and everything. Also, Coran is really fond of you. He sees a lot of himself in you. If you need anything, I’ll be here for a while. You can talk to me anytime if you want.” 

“I might have to take you up on that offer,” Lance said with a small smile. “You really think I’m a hero?”

“Totally dude! You’re part of Voltron! Not only that but you’ve piloted two of the lions. You’ve saved countless lives.” You cheered Lance on. By the time you and him parted ways, Lance had a smile on his face. You watched as he walked away. Then the door next to you opened. Coran stepped out of his room.

“You work very well with the paladins,” Coran said. 

“Oh so you were eavesdropping?” You joked. “I’m kidding. Lance is a good kid. I wish I could help him a little more.”

“Are you really staying for a while?” Coran asked. 

“I-I don’t know yet. Pidge was talking about me sticking around a while after my ship is done and everything. I’m just not sure yet.” You really weren’t sure yet. 

“You should stay,” Coran said. “Not to pressure you or anything, but I think it would be a good idea.”

“You guys are so nice.” You said as you leaned against the wall. “I’ve only been here a few days, but you’ve all offered to have me stay here. You guys gave me a room and food and parts to fix my ship. I’m not used to it really. I can’t really give an answer as to if I stay or not until my ship is fixed.”

Coran said he understood. It was strange to you that everyone wanted you to stay. Later that day Allura even talked to you about staying. You really started to think about it. 

The next day Coran offered to help you with your ship again. You didn’t get much done because you and Coran kept talking. He told you about the first time he went into a weblum and how he had to make an instructional video about how to do it. You talked about the first time you saw a Balmera and how beautiful it was. Talking to Coran felt so comfortable. You never had a best friend, but this is what you imagined it would be like. 

That night you joined Coran on his walk around the castle. He said goodnight to everyone as he passed their rooms. He checked all systems to make sure they were functioning. Then he went to what could only be described as the castle’s prison. The only one in there was Prince Lotor. 

“Coran,” Lotor said, “you seem to have a follower.”

“That’s none of your concern,” Coran said in a stern voice. “I’m just here to make sure everything is secure.”

“As you do every night.” Lotor shifted his gaze to you. He studied you for a moment before Coran stepped in front of you. “Tomorrow morning, bring the others here. There’s another base you can bring down.” Coran nodded. He took you by the arm and walked with you out of the prison. 

“So that’s Prince Lotor,” you said. “He’s… intense.” 

“We should get some sleep. We have a mission tomorrow.” Coran walked you to your room before speaking again. “Would you like to join me in the control room tomorrow?”

“Sure. Let’s kick some ass.” You said. “Goodnight Coran.”

“Goodnight, (y/n).”


	4. Overreacting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really gotta work on my build up to stuff lmao.

“So we just sit here and wait then?” You asked Coran. The green lion went first using the cloaking Pidge equipped it with. The rest of the lions waited just outside the castle. 

“Yes,” Coran answered. “We’re here as back up.” Coran stayed so focused. 

“Alright guys, the base is small. All drones will be down for sixty ticks. We need to do this fast. Let’s go.” Pidge instructed. The lions flew out at top speed. You watched as small explosions puffed on the base. 

Taking down the base seemed so easy for the paladins. They were quick and precise. At some point in the battle your gaze shifted to Coran. His hands were in a ready position over the control panel. His gaze never left the fight. 

“Coran, we’re coming back,” Shiro said. You didn’t realize the paladins were already done. You were still looking at Coran. He finally relaxed and turned to you. You sat in silence with eyes locked until the paladins came in. Then you ripped your gaze from Coran and turned to the paladins. 

After some conversation you all went your separate ways. You went to your ship and started working. You finished the second engine and immediately started piecing together the back half of your ship. 

Pidge burst into the room suddenly with what looked to be her brother. They looked almost exactly alike. 

“(Y/n)!” Pidge said. “Sorry for rushing in. I wanted to show my brother your ship.” 

“No big deal,” you laughed. “I should probably take a break anyways. The second engine is up and running. All I have to do is finish constructing the rest of the back” 

“Do I know you from somewhere?” Matt asked. 

“I move around a lot so probably,” you said. “I really hope you weren’t someone I stole from.” You joked. 

“I’m sure it’ll come to me,” Matt said trying to think. Pidge started showing off your ship to her brother when he suddenly exclaimed, “I got it! You were the one that broke your arm helping me escape a moon prison!”

“Holy crap!” You laughed. “That was you? It’s nice to see you’re still alive.”

“Matt, you were in a moon prison?” Pidge asked.

“It was after I escaped the Galra, but it was no big deal really. It was kind of a bounty holding facility.” Matt explained. 

“Matt and I were the only ones there,” you picked up the story. “One of the guards left my cell unlocked and I was able to just walk out. Then I saw Matt and I had to help him. I couldn’t just leave him there. I managed to break my arm getting the keys to his cell and to get my ship out of holding.”

“This maniac just used some metal rods and ace bandage to create a makeshift cast. Then they flew me to a safety station and I never saw them again.” Matt said looking at you. “Good to know you’re alive too.”

“Small universe, huh?” Pidge said. Pidge and Matt stuck around for a while just to chat. Then they started helping you with your ship. You weren’t too sure how it got initiated, but you were happy it did. Your ship was always built by you. You were the only one that worked on it, but having other people help put some more sentiment in it. 

Pidge showed you a design she and Hunk made for blasters for your ship. They would be difficult to assemble, but they would be a great addition.

“Hey guys,” Lance popped his head in. “Hunk and Coran are planning a dinner tonight since we’re all here and we don’t know when this will happen again.” 

“Let us clean up some and we’ll be right there,” Pidge said. 

You finished what you were working on then reluctantly went to your room. After washing up and changing clothes you stepped out of your room and almost bumped into Coran.

“Oh, I was just coming to see if you were going to the dinner tonight,” Coran explained. “I didn’t know if you’d want to go or not.”

“I can eat,” you laughed. Coran walked with you to the dining room. Pidge sat in between Matt and Lance. Allura was at one end of the table and the other end was empty. Across from Pidge was a boy you could only guess was Keith. Next to him was Shiro and on the other side, near the empty end chair, were two more empty chairs. 

Coran pulled out the seat in the middle of the empty seats for you to sit in. He left and came back with Hunk and food. Hunk sat between you and Keith and Coran sat at the end of the table. Everyone conversed throughout the meal. Everyone, except you. 

You didn’t feel like you had much to say. You weren’t expecting to be in the castle very long let alone have this weird family dinner with team Voltron. You felt out of place. 

“Are you okay?” Coran whispered to you.

“I’m fine. Just a little out of it.” You said. 

“So, (y/n),” Allura said. You felt your heart suddenly speed up. “Have you decided on whether or not you’ll stay on with team Voltron?” You didn’t like being put on the spot like that. Something in you panicked. 

“I…” you tried to answer. No words would come out. Eventually you managed to say, “I’ll be right back.” You got up and ran. You didn’t look back. You went straight to the room with your ship and sat against the wall. You didn’t know why you reacted like that. 

After quite a while in silence, there was a knock at the door. You took a deep breath before standing to answer it. Before you could do anything else Coran had his arms around you.

“I’m so glad you didn’t leave,” Coran said. You shoved him off of you.

“What is with all of you?” You yelled. “Is this a cult or something? Why are you all so obsessed with me staying here? I don’t think I belong here.”

“I was just saying I’m glad because Pidge said your ship couldn’t handle space yet,” Coran explained. “You don’t have to stay here if you don’t want to. I’m sorry-” You cut Coran off with a hug. You felt like such an idiot. 

“No, I’m sorry,” you said. Your voice shook and a tear fell from your eye. “I’m not used to this. I usually stay somewhere for two days tops. I’ve been here for a week and it just feels weird to me. I probably insulted Princess Allura by running away. I definitely over reacted. You have all been so nice to me. I’m sorry this hug is lasting so long. I don’t get many of these.”

Coran held you tight for a moment before you pulled away. You took him by the hand and walked back to the dining room with him. Having his hand in yours calmed you.

In the dining room, everyone cleared out except for Allura. There was nothing on the table except for the mice and a cup. You let go of Coran’s hand and approached the table. 

“Princess Allura, I think I owe you an apology,” you said. “I overreacted at dinner and I didn’t mean to run off like that.”

“It’s perfectly fine,” Allura smiled. “I was just worried I upset you. I know we kept asking you to stay. The paladins seem to really like you and I know Coran adores you. He likes having someone to talk to. However, staying is your choice. We cannot decide that for you and I’m sorry we’ve been pressuring you.”

You sat for a while and talked with Allura and Coran. Eventually Hunk and Lance came in as well followed by Pidge and Matt then Shiro and Keith came back. You were able to talk and you officially met Keith. It was like a redo and it was fun. 

When it came time for bed Coran walked you to your room as he usually did. Coran really was becoming your best friend.

“Thank you for everything, Coran,” you said standing in your doorway. “I guess I really needed that little break down to destress some. Sorry for pushing you.” 

Coran hugged you again and you two said goodnight. You went to sleep that night thinking about him. His hug was so warm and comforting. It was also a plus that he smelled really nice. Coran could be a bit strange, but he was so amazing. He made you want to stay.


	5. A Decision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So like the whole Shiro clone thing is gonna kind of play into this a little. Like I'm writing Shiro as really really strict and out of it (which will be more apparent in chapter 6).   
> Also! Season 6 premiers on my birthday June 15th. If you want to talk to me about Voltron (especially Coran Coran the gorgeous man) you can dm me on tumblr crystal-gem-lapis-lazuli.tumblr.com or on instagram @galaxy_goth_cosplay

You spent two days in your room. The only reason you knew it was two days was that Coran came to say goodnight twice. When you finally left your room you just went straight to the room with your ship. You didn’t really talk to anyone. 

You worked on your ship nonstop. Every now and then you’d turn to see a plate of food waiting for you. It was very obvious from the taste that it was Coran’s cooking. You were grateful. When you finally fell asleep you woke up with a blanket on you. It smelled like Coran. You got up and turned on the light to see Coran sitting against the wall asleep. Seeing him brought a smile to your face. You put the blanket on him and started working as quietly as possible. 

After working a while you noticed Coran beginning to wake up. He opened his eyes, looked at you, and smiled. 

“Good morning,” he said.

“Mornin’.” You smiled. “Thanks for the blanket and the food.”

“You’re welcome. I just wanted to check on you. I also wanted to be here just in case you decided to leave.” Coran said. He stood and stretch before grabbing the blanket and folding it. 

“Even if I do leave I’ll be sure to at least say goodbye. I’m almost done. If I decide to leave, I’m gonna miss you guys. Especially you.” You cleared your throat. “I’ve never had a best friend or any friends really, but I think I do now.”

Instead of finishing your ship you walked around the castle with Coran. It was nice to stretch your legs and it was a good time to talk more with Coran. You loved being around him.

“Even if I leave, I think I’ll come back to visit,” you said suddenly. “I’ve never been one to look back, but sometimes things change.” 

“I know the others would like that. I would sure love to see you,” Coran smiled. After walking a while you stopped at the control room. You and Coran stood and gazed out into space. 

“I’m so glad I’m not stuck on Earth,” you sighed. “Space is so pretty and so infinite. Earth is so small compared to it all. Every planet seems so small compared to the horizons I chace. I love exploring it all.” You turned to Coran to see he was already looking at you. His eyes seemed to have a certain sparkle in them. “I know I’ve been all sappy about this, but I’m also glad I’m not on Earth because if I was I probably would have never come here. I would have never met you.” 

“Get a room!” You heard someone call from the entrance. You and Coran turned to see the Pidge, Hunk, and Lance. You realized how close you had gotten to Coran and you stepped away a bit. Blush flooded your cheeks. 

Why were you so close to him? What was about to happen?

“Looks like things were heating up in here,” Lance teased. The blush was not leaving your face. “Coran the man has game.”

“And on that note I’m out,” you sighed and left the room. Pidge followed behind you. 

“I noticed you run away from uncomfortable situations.” Pidge pointed out. 

“I run away from everything.” 

“Touche,” Pidge said. “So, is there something going on between you and Coran? I mean you spend a lot of time together, and you two were really close a few seconds ago.” You had to think for a moment. You really did spend a lot of time with Coran. 

“Coran and I are friends. He’s like my best friend.” You said. “I like talking to him and stuff. He’s just really cool.” You and Pidge went into the room with your ship. 

“I can understand that. All I have to say is that he’d be really good for you,” Pidge started. “He always has stories about his adventures and about Voltron. He’s kind of old, but he’s young at heart. I know he’s seemed a lot happier with you around. I think that’s why Allura wants you to stay. I think she’s worried about him. He’s like a father to her.”

“Do you want to help me finish my ship?” You tried changing the subject. “It’s almost done. When we’re finished I could take you for a spin and then we could add the blasters.” You knew offering Pidge a chance to ride in your ship would distract her from the fact you just changed the subject. Without hesitation Pidge agreed and you two started working on the ship. 

Pidge was working ridiculously fast. She was obviously excited to go out in the ship and see it in action. After some time Hunk and Lance showed up with Coran. Of course they would.

“Oh, you’re almost done,” Coran said. He sounded a little disappointed. 

“Yeah, but it’s just so Pidge can go for a ride. We still have to build the blasters. After all, I can’t help team Voltron without something to defend myself,” you smirked. Coran knew exactly what you meant. His eyes lit up.

“So, you’re staying?” He asked. You noticed Pidge had stopped working to listen. Hunk and Lance smiled in anticipation.

“I will go out on my own every now and then, but I guess for the time being-” before you could finish your sentence you felt Pidge rush you with a hug. A few seconds later Lance and Hunk had their arms around you as well. 

“Come on Coran. Get in on this,” Lance said. Coran was only a step from you when the three paladins released you. Pidge lightly pushed you forward causing you to launch into Coran’s arms. You looked up at him and smiled before hugging him tightly. Allura and Shiro come in the room seconds later. 

“They’re staying!” Coran exclaimed with you still in his arms. He realized and released you.

“How wonderful,” Allura smiled. She hugged you lightly. Then pulled away sliding her hands to yours. “I’m very glad you’re staying. You and I must talk later.” She squeezed your hands and released. 

“Welcome to the team,” Shiro said. He firmly shook your hand. That was probably the most Shiro had ever directly talked to you. “I’m sure you won’t let us down.” Something about him saying that made you feel uneasy. You felt a hand on your shoulder and turned your head to see Lance. 

“They won’t,” Lance said sternly almost as if he felt uneasy with the words as well. 

“Alright,” Pidge said. “Enough with the talking. The ship only needs a few more pieces and parts!” Everyone helped you with the final touches and it wasn’t long before you finished. “Let’s take it for a test!” Pidge yelled already hopping in the ship. 

You slid into the driver’s seat just like the good old day. The ship started up like a dream. You took off with ease. Controls were working properly. You got into the airlock and waited a few moments to make sure the ship was sound. After that you left the castle. Being behind the controls again felt great. You could fly forever in that little ship of yours. 

“Enjoying yourself Pidge?” You asked. “It’s no giant flying lion.”

“It’s still amazing.” Pidge said studying the control board. She seemed genuinely impressed. You drove every which way but made sure to keep the castle in your sights. After a while of zipping around you let Pidge drive. She helped so much on that ship it was as much hers as it was yours. You let Pidge get her fill then she took it back to the castle. 

When you got back everyone was still there. Pidge went off with Lance and Hunk talking about flying the ship. Shiro went his own way. Then Allura asked Coran if she could have a word with you alone. Coran did as asked of course. 

“I’m very glad you decided to stay,” Allura smiled. She was so warm and inviting. “I was worried about you leaving. Mostly for the sake of the paladins and Coran. You and I haven’t really gotten to personally know each other.”

“I’m sorry about that Princess. I didn’t expect for this to happen. I figured I would have been gone two days after being here.” You laughed nervously. 

“Well, now that you’re staying you and I should ‘hang out,’” Allura said obviously copying words she learned from the paladins. 

“We really should,” you smiled. “And we have a ship that isn’t a big obvious castle or lion. Wanna go somewhere?” You were eager to be out and about like you were used to. 

You and Allura hopped in your ship and took off for a while. 

“So what’s it like being a paladin of Voltron?” You asked. You had already talked to the other paladins about it except Shiro.

“It’s amazing.” Allura said softly. “I’m able to follow in my father’s footsteps. Of course he flew the red lion and I fly the blue lion.”

“None of us are exactly like our parents,” you reassured her. “I never met King Alfor, but I’ve heard a lot about him from Coran. I’m sure he’d be proud of you, Allura.” You noticed Allura sniffling and tearing up. “Oh. Oh no. I’m sorry. Oh no.”

“No it’s not your fault,” Allura sighed. “I haven’t really had the chance to stop and grieve anything. My planet, my parents, my entire life fell apart ten thousand deca-phoebs ago. And with this fight going on I haven’t had a chance to catch my breath.” You placed a hand on Allura’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. No one should have to see me like this.”

“It’s fine Allura. I’m here for you,” you said. “At least you’re a pretty crier. When I cry it’s full on ugly sobbing. You manage to cry very gracefully.” You joked to try to lift the mood. Although it was kind of the truth. Allura let out a small laugh. “You can always come to me if you need to let it out without fear of judgment. You could probably go to Coran, but I’m pretty sure that would end with both of you crying.” 

“I don’t want to make Coran feel bad,” Allura sniffled. “He was one of my father’s closest friends. I feel like if I talk about him it’ll just bring Coran down.”

“Coran lost just as much as you did Allura. You guys should talk about it.” You paused. “Stop me if I’m overstepping. I’m still kind of an outsider in all this.”

“But you do know Coran very well,” Allura said. “You seem to be very good friends with him. He talks about you a lot.”

“Coran is kind of my best friend right now.” You admitted. Conversation carried on as you began to make your way back to the castle. You docked your ship and headed to the control room with Allura. When you entered, Hunk, Lance, and Pidge were all at their stations. Shiro was standing as if waiting for you two. The energy in the room was heavy. You glanced around Shiro to peek at Coran. He had a concerned look.

“Where were you two?” Shiro asked. Something happened.


	6. Realization

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written kind of quickly. It's kind of short too. Sorry about that.

“What’s going on?” Allura asked. 

 

“We were attacked without a blue lion,” Shiro said. His voice caused you to start panicking. 

 

“We weren’t even gone that long,” Allura said. “If it’s already over you managed to handle it without me.”

 

“That isn’t the point. What if we needed to form Voltron?” Shiro was incredibly scary to you. Allura didn’t back down.

 

“But you didn’t,” Allura said. 

 

“Look, this is my fault. I took Allura without a heads up and with no way of contacting us.” You said. “Don’t get mad at her.” 

 

Shiro barely glanced at you when Allura barked “don’t you dare say anything to them they did nothing wrong.” You felt real fear. You thought you had overreacted at the dinner, but Shiro was going next level. 

 

“We were able to handle it by ourselves Shiro,” Lance said. He stood and walked to you and Allura. “We didn’t need Voltron. If we failed the attack then I’d understand being upset, but we got through it.” Pidge, Hunk, and Coran stood with you and Allura as well. 

 

Shiro wasn’t going to win this argument. He knew that. He sighed before pushing through the group. He gave a sharp push against your shoulder with his. There was a moment of silence after Shiro left. No one knew what to say. From what Lance had said before, Shiro has been acting weird. You could tell from his face that this wasn’t normal Shiro activity. 

 

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here.” Allura finally broke the silence. 

 

“Don’t worry about it. We handled it.” Lance reassured her. “I don’t know what Shiro’s deal is.” 

 

“We need to install a communicator in (y/n)’s ship.” Allura instructed. 

 

“I’ll get right on it, Princess.” You said. You left the control room and Coran decided to follow. 

 

“Are you okay?” Coran asked. 

 

“I’m not sure to be honest,” you said. “I feel kind of crappy.” 

 

“Crappy?” Coran asked. Sometimes you forgot Alteans don’t understand all Earth words. 

 

“Bad. I feel bad,” you explained. “To be honest, Shiro scares me. He’s super intense and intimidating and it’s kind of obvious he doesn’t like me now. Let’s just put in the communication device and be done okay.” 

 

You reached your ship and Coran installed a few things. You didn’t know how to put the communicator in so you just let him do it. He offered to walk you to your room, but you decided to stay with your ship. Coran asked if you wanted to talk, but you just wanted to be alone for a while. 

 

“If you leave, I hope you return,” Coran said. The entire team already knew you ran away from things. You were planning to go off on your ship for a bit, but you weren’t planning on leaving for good. You just needed to be somewhere alone. 

 

You gave Coran a quick hug. “I’ll be back,” you promised. You almost didn’t want to let Coran go. You didn’t believe yourself when you said you’d be back. You finally released the hug and hopped in your ship. 

 

You didn’t know where you were going. You were just going.  You needed to clear your head. Being alone felt nice, but it also made you feel like something was missing. 

 

You didn’t go back to the castle for a couple of days. You got a call or two from the castle, but you didn’t answer them. You still wanted to be alone. When you did finally go back to the castle everyone was asleep. You docked your ship and walked to your room. You stopped in front of Coran’s door and hesitated for a second before knocking. The door opened a few seconds later. 

 

“You’re back,” Coran said quietly. 

 

“Sorry if I woke you up,” you whispered. 

 

“It’s fine. I’m glad you came back,” Coran hugged you tightly for a moment. “I guess I should let you go get some sleep.” He said releasing you. 

 

“If you want we can sit and talk for awhile,” you suggested. Coran agreed and let you in his room. There were trinkets and a few pictures around the place. On Coran’s bed there was a sort of alien teddy bear with a moustache to match Coran’s. There was a picture at the head of his bed of him and another Altean.

 

“Is that King Alfor?” You asked.

 

“Yes, that’s him,” Coran smiled. “He was a great leader and at one time he was my best friend. Now I have you.” 

 

“I must be pretty great to be compared to a king.” You joked. “So what’s happened since I was last here?”

 

“Well you missed an opportunity to see Voltron,” Coran said.

 

“Quiznak!” You laughed. “Did I use that word correctly?”

 

“Perfect,” Coran laughed as well. “There was a mission and Voltron was needed. Also I think Pidge might have built the blasters for your ship.”

 

You sat and talked with Coran until you eventually fell asleep leaning on his shoulder. You woke up laying on his bed. Coran was asleep on the floor. You sat up and stretched. Then there was a knock at the door. Coran immediately woke up and got to his feet. He opened the door to find Lance.  _ Oh quiznak,  _ you thought.

 

Coran invited him in. You knew exactly what Lance was going to think. He stepped in and took one look at you before smiling. 

 

“You’re back!” Lance said. That’s not what you thought he would think first. Lance hugged you. “I’m not disrupting any activities am I?” There it is. 

 

“No, Lance. I got in late and I wanted to talk to Coran. I ended up falling asleep in here.” You explained.

 

“Are you sure? Because I can just come back later.” Lance joked. “I’m kidding. Anyways, I just came by to see how Coran was doing. I guess he’s better now that you’re here.”

 

“Better?” You asked. 

 

“Yeah, Coran was a little mopey with you gone.” Lance explained. “I guess he’s fine now. I’ll go let the others know you’re here.” Lance left and you stepped to Coran.

 

“So you were mopey huh?” You asked. “I missed you too, Coranic. I’d offer to take you with me next time, but I don’t need Shiro yelling at me… You’d be worth being yelled at.” 

 

The more time you spent with Coran the more you he grew on you. Since you finished your ship you hung around him even more. You slowly started to realize you might have felt more for him. You were already best friends. You tried to think what more you could want out of the relationship. One day you it finally hit you. You had a crush on Coran. 


	7. A Mission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I'm progressing the story too fast, but also I fell in love with Coran in like the first episode of Voltron so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

The day you were almost dreading soon came. The first mission you’d go on with the paladins. You’d no longer be in the safety of the castle. You’d be in the death trap of a ship you made. You had blasters on it and you could maneuver it through an asteroid field. However, it would only take one shot to take you out. 

You trusted the paladins. Well, you trusted four out of five of them. They wouldn’t let you get hurt. 

Before the day came, you were walking around the castle with Coran. It had become part of your nightly routine. This meant you started seeing Lotor more often. In truth, you probably liked Prince Lotor more than you like Shiro. The funny thing was, you were able to talk to Lotor easier than Shiro. You and Coran got him up to speed on you joining the fight and he started including you in planning. 

“Perfect timing to get your ship up and running I guess,” Lotor said. “There’s a base that you can help with.” Lotor explained that the base would have a few fleets protecting it. Your job would be to power down the base while Voltron kept the fleets disteacted. No pressure right. 

You were to head out soon after the lions went out. You waited for their signal in absolute silence. You just listened to them through your headset.

“(Y/n), it’s time to roll out,” Shiro said. You took a deep breath and started your ship.

“On it, Shiro,” you said. You left the castle and head out behind the fight. So much went through your head as you approached the base. 

“Paladins form Voltron,” Shiro said. You watched as the lions formed together. It was the perfect time to get to the base. Everyone would be distracted by Voltron. You kicked your ship into high speed and booked it to the base. 

You landed on the roof of the base and jumped in through a closing hangar. You rolled when you hit the ground so you wouldn’t hurt yourself. You only had minimal training for this, but you were going to make it work. You just started running. You pulled out a little tablet with the map of the base programmed in it. Thank you Lotor. 

You turned a corner and saw two Galra sentries. You ran back around the corner and stopped for a second. 

“Crap,” you whispered. 

“(Y/n), you okay?” Pidge asked.

“Yeah, I was almost seen,” you whispered. “I am an idiot. Remind me to get a weapon next time.” You looked around and found a metal pipe and a sheet of metal sitting with some supplies. You turned the corner and ran at the sentries. You managed to knock the head off one but then the other knew you were there. The sentry shot at you so you used the metal sheet to block the blasts. 

“You almost done down there?” Shiro asked. 

“I’m kind of getting shot at right now! Give me five minutes!” You hollered into the headset. You got one swift swing at the sentry and down it went. Thinking ahead you grabbed a blaster from the sentry you took down. Then you sprinted down the corridor to the door that led to the base’s power supply. 

The door had a scanner lock on it. You panicked for a second until the door opened. You stood against the wall and watched another sentry walk out of the room and turned the other way. You hurried into the room before the door closed. 

Once inside you started a video chat. Lotor picked up immediately. You showed him the power supply so he could tell you exactly what to do. 

“Listen carefully,” he said. “Once you shut down the power you will have two minutes to get back to your ship. The only thing keeping that base from exploding is the constant use of the power cells. If they back up too much the whole place goes up.”

“You know, I really wish I was told this before I actually came here,” you sighed. “Just tell me how to do it.” 

Lotor explained in great detail how to power down the base so that it couldn’t be fixed. You did exactly as he told you and with one final move you ripped out one specific wire then shot the main panel. Everything went dark. 

“Power is down,” you said. You pulled a pair of glasses off your shirt that would help you see and you ran to the door. Lucky for you three sentries came in allowing the door to be open. Three shots and they all went down. 

You went as fast as your legs could carry you. You made it back to the hanar you came in on then realized it wouldn’t open without power. You’d have to manually pry it open. You stuck the tablet in your pocket and dropped the blaster. You managed to climb up a pole and reach the top. There was a catwalk that you pulled yourself on to. It led to a hatch in the roof that you were able to climb up. You ran to your ship and took off just in time. 

“(Y/n)?” You heard through the static of the headset. 

“I’m here. I’m okay. I… almost died,” you said out of breath. “You guys need any help up there?” 

“Nope, we’re good. Head back to the castle,” Shiro instructed. 

“Aye aye captain,” you mocked. 

You reached the castle and docked your ship. Instead of going straight to the control room you made your way to Lotor.

“It’s just you?” Lotor asked. “Usually you come with Coran.”

“Well, I just got back from almost dying and I’m trying to calm down some before I see everyone,” You said. “So can we trust you. Like for real? I mean you didn’t let me die back there, but also you didn’t give me a heads up on exploding.”

“If I gave you a heads up you wouldn’t have been so willing to do it, and we kind of needed you.” Lotor said. He was right. You didn’t know what to say next so you just nodded before leaving the room. You were still unclear on whether or not you could trust Lotor. You made your way to the control room. Everybody else was already there. 

“So how’d you like your first mission with team Voltron?” Hunk asked. 

“I almost died. Twice.” You said. “But I didn’t. It was… terrifying. But hey, I didn’t just up and leave afterwards so I guess it’s better than…” You were about to say Shiro until you glanced at Shiro. “... other things.” You noticed Lance almost laugh. He knew what you were about to say. 

After talking for a bit everyone began to disperse. Lance was the last of the paladins to leave. As he walked out of the room he winked at you. It had been a while since you realized you had a crush on Coran and it wasn’t like you were hiding it. Even Lotor knew you liked him. The only ones oblivious to it were Allura and Coran himself. You had talked to Lance, Pidge and Hunk about it and they were supportive about the whole thing. 

“You know,” Coran began. “There were a solid ten ticks or so that I was concerned you wouldn’t be back.”

“You lost confidence in me? I’m hurt Coranic,” you emoted jokingly. “To be fair there was a good ten ticks I thought I wouldn’t be back either. I’m glad I came back. I like being around you. I want to be able to do it longer.” You set your head on Coran’s shoulder. After a few seconds you felt him kiss the top of your head. You looked up at him and smiled.

“Sorry if that was a tad bit strange,” Coran laughed nervously. “The paladins said stuff like head kisses and forehead kisses are terms of endearment on Earth.” 

“Yeah they are,” you said. Your heart fluttered a bit. You never really felt this way about anyone before. Coran really was a gorgeous man inside and out.


	8. Confession

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting to the cute stuff. Hell yeah.

It had been almost a week since you went on your first mission, but there was still a bruise on your shoulder from where you had to roll from jumping into the hangar. Had you seen the hatch in the roof before rushing into the hangar you wouldn’t have hurt yourself. 

You asked Hunk to take a look at the bruise every so often to make sure it wasn’t getting worse. You asked him specifically because he seemed the most nurturing. He was gentle. 

“So what’s the damage?” you asked Hunk.

“Well, I’m not a doctor, but the swelling is going down. It doesn’t look like the actual bruise is fading though.” Hunk explained. 

“Maybe I should just try the healing pod thing,” you said. “Thanks Hunk. I really appreciate you helping me. I would have asked one of the other humans on board but Shiro scares me and Lance and Pidge seem like the kind of butt heads that would slap a sunburn and poke a bruise.” 

“You are very right with that assumption of Lance and Pidge.” Hunk laughed. “Although they probably won’t do that to you. That story about you and the broken arm is just wild and you are intimidating because of it.”

“Don’t let the badassness of the story fool you I was crying like a baby because of it. You can ask Matt. I had to set it and everything and it wasn’t fun.” You confessed. “It took me a while to actually do it because I was freaking out.”

“Still, not everyone can do that,” Hunk said. “We’ll check the bruise out again in a couple of quintants. Or days. I keep forgetting you know Earth stuff.”

“Do you miss it Hunk?” You asked. “I know Lance often gets homesick. What about you?”

“Of course I miss it. I miss my family mostly. I also miss the rain and the sunsets and the safety. I love being part of Voltron, but I am terrified almost every single day. Like we could actually die. Why did the lions allow us to enter this battle?” Hunk began to ramble. You put your arm around him to comfort him some. This poor kid was so panicked about being part of Voltron. Lance was depressed, but Hunk was full of anxiety. 

“If we can trust anything Lotor says, this war will be over soon,” you started. “Then you can go home again. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself about all of this. I know it’s terrifying. I’m still shaking from almost dying a week ago. However, your lion will protect you. You’re in the strongest part of the most amazing weapon in the universe. Trust your lion. If you need to talk or have a break down I’m here for you. No judgement here.” You really wanted to help these kids. You wanted to be the kind of person you needed as a teenager. Just someone to talk to and help figure things out with. 

You stayed with Hunk for a while and just talked. Topic changed from fears to friends. Hunk told you how he met a Balmera resident named Shay. He discussed his adventure with Coran on the Balmera. That’s when the conversation shifted. 

“So you and Coran? How’s that going?” Hunk asked. 

“He kissed my head so there’s that.” You paused. “I just don’t want us to be something and then I mess it up. I run away a lot. What happens if I wake up one day and just decide to leave. It’s going to be harder for him to let go if we’re something.”

“It’ll be hard for him to let go no matter what.” Hunk said. He was right. “It’ll be hard for all of us.” He added. 

“It would be hard for me too,” you confessed. The conversation carried on and Hunk talked more about Shay. After you guys went your own ways, you wandered about the castle deep in thought. You didn’t even realize where you were going. 

You thought about telling Coran you liked him more than a best friend. You thought about everything that could happen. Even if he didn’t feel the same it would be nice to tell him. If he did feel the same, there were a lot of variables. Before you realized where you were going, you found yourself outside of Coran’s room. You tried to knock but stopped yourself. You had never told someone you liked them. You never felt strong enough about anyone to tell them.

You awkwardly stood outside of Coran’s room arguing with yourself on what to do. Finally you knocked. A few seconds passed before the door opened.

“Oh, (y/n), what are you up to?” Coran asked. 

You cleared your throat. “Can I come in and talk?” Coran let you in and you sat with him on his bed. “So I’ve been thinking a lot. Probably thinking too much. About us.” You took Coran’s hands in yours. “I like you. Like more than a friend. More than a best friend.”

Coran smiled. He moved one of his hands to the side of your face and you both inched closer. Soon your lips met his. His moustache tickled your skin. After a few seconds you both pulled away.

“I wasn’t expecting that to happen so soon,” you laughed. “I’m happy it did though.”

“To be quite honest, I’ve wanted to do that for a while,” Coran said. “I wonder how the others will react to this.”

“Lance, Pidge, and Hunk were very supportive of this outcome so they’ll probably be fine with it. Knowing Shiro he’ll be against it just because he doesn’t like me,” you laughed. “I have no idea how Allura will react. I should let you tell her about it.”

“We can both go talk to her… (Y/n), I don’t want you to feel trapped by this,” Coran said. “I know you move around a lot. If you want to leave at any point, just go for it. Don’t feel pressured to stay because of me.”

You practically threw yourself into Coran’s arms. “That’s the single best thing you could have said to me,” you laughed. “Now lets go see Allura.”

You kind of knew that Allura’s blessing would mean a lot to Coran. Allura said Coran was like a second father to her and you knew Coran saw her as a daughter. You were nervous. More nervous than you were when telling Coran how you felt. His hand was in yours and you both walked through the castle. 

Coran knocked on Allura’s door and your heart began to race. She answered and let both of you in to talk. 

“Princess, we wanted you to be the first to hear the news,” Coran started. “(Y/n) and I just solidified a relationship with each other.” You really wished he had phrased it a different way. 

“So you two will be dating?” Allura asked. You nodded and Allura smiled. “How wonderful! I know you will be great together. Coran, do you mind if I chat with (y/n) alone for a moment?”

“Of course Princess.” Coran smiled. He gave your hand a squeeze before releasing and leaving the room. 

“I’m very happy for the both of you,” Allura said. “Just don’t hurt him please. We all know you never stay in one place too long. You’ve told us this is the longest you’ve stayed in one place since you left the asteroid. If you feel you must leave, please tell him and please come back. You haven’t known each other long, and none of us know where this relationship will go. However, I know Coran. He’s seemed to like you since you first met and he’ll still like you long after you leave if you do leave.”

“Is this why you wanted me to stay? For him?” You asked. 

“In truth, yes. You make him very happy.” Allura answered. 

“You’re a great person Allura. Thank you for being supportive of us.” you said. You walked out with Allura and found Coran with the paladins. Of course he told them. Hunk, Pidge, and Lance were elated. They supported you completely. Then there was Shiro. As you all began walking to the dining room, Shiro stopped you for a second.

“Don’t let this impede our missions,” he said roughly. “Defeating the Galra is more important than some silly fling between you and Coran.”

“I completely understand,” you agreed. 

“I hope you two are happy as long as you’re together,” Shiro added. You were shocked he had anything nice to say to you.

“Thanks, that means a lot,” you said. It did kind of mean a lot to you. Shiro didn’t seem to like you much, but he wanted you to be happy with Coran. 

You spent the night talking in Coran’s room again. You could listen to his stories for hours. Eventually you fell asleep again. When you woke up Coran was on the floor again, but he was awake. You hung a hand off your bed and grabbed Coran’s.

“You don’t have to sleep on the floor whenever I come over,” you yawned. “There’s plenty of room on the bed for both of us. I don’t mind sharing.” Coran smiled before crawling over you and onto the bed. He was close to you and he put an arm around you spooning you. You felt so comfortable and warm. Eventually you fell asleep again.


	9. Another Mission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has absolutely no reason to it. Like this is a filler chapter and idk why I wrote it. The story will progress with Coran in the next chapter I promise.

You had another mission with Voltron. This time you were all split into pairs. Hunk and Pidge, Lance and Allura, you and Shiro. At least this time you had a suit and a hand held blaster to protect you. Pidge and Hunk managed to surprise you with the suit. It was very similar to the suits the paladins had. Yours was purple. They really saw you as part of the team. 

Coran walked you to your ship. You gave him a quick peck on the cheek before hopping in your ship and taking off. I promise I’ll be back, Coranic, you thought. You followed Shiro once outside the castle. It was hard to keep up with his lion but you managed. 

There was a trio of moon bases that had to go down. You saw Pidge and Hunk on your left and Lance and Allura on your right. It wasn’t long before you and Shiro landed on the center moon. It was too quiet for you to be comfortable. 

“What’s the plan here?” You asked stepping out of your ship.

“Let’s check the base.” Shiro said. You both walked inside. The base seemed completely abandoned. “Hey guys, are your bases empty too?” Shiro asked to the other paladins.

“Yeah, I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” you heard Lance say. 

“Let’s get out of here,” Shiro advised. You all flew back to the castle and immediately went to Lotor.

“I don’t understand. Those bases should have been operational.” Lotor said. 

“This is where the truth begins to come out, isn’t it Lotor,” Allura sneered. “It was supposed to be a trap wasn’t it?”

“Allura, I thought the same thing, but Shiro and I walked well into the base and it was completely abandoned. If it was a trap he and I wouldn’t be here.” You explained. “I’m not saying we can trust him. I’m just saying he’s as in the dark as we are.” 

“Are you sure all three bases were empty?” Lotor asked.

“Yes.” Shiro answered. “There weren’t even any sentries. It was completely empty. Is it possible operations moved to the planet that the moons orbit?”

“I guess it’s possible.” Lotor said. 

“I can check,” you volunteered. “My ship is small enough to stay undetected. You guys can have the lions at the ready and when I give the signal Voltron can swoop in and destroy the place.”

The paladins agreed and you were off. Once again you kissed Coran on the cheek and hopped in your ship. Before you could think about the consequences you were already outside of the castle. Your ship sped off to the planet ahead as the lions followed you. The lions stopped at the moons, but you kept going. 

“Please be careful, (y/n),” Allura said. 

The planet was thickly clouded with some sort of purple vapor. It took awhile before there was any visibility. When you could finally see the surface of the planet you saw a base illuminated in the darkness. 

“There’s definitely a base down here guys,” you said. You waited for Voltron to fly in. Instead all you got was static and a few half word in your headset. “Guys? Can you hear me?” Nothing. You figured the vapor had something to do with it. You tried heading back out, but your ship hit something in the clouds. Suddenly the left engine sputtered and stopped. “Oh no. Guys! Please if you can hear me I need help!” 

Your ship began to fall. You used your right engine to bring yourself down easy. It wasn’t enough power to fly you out, but it was good enough to keep you from plummeting. The planet was dark enough to keep you from being seen. You landed your ship behind rocks near the base to keep it from being seen. 

You knew Voltron would come for you eventually, but you panicked. You couldn’t leave by yourself. You just kept talking into your headset. Minutes passed you but it felt like hours. Suddenly there was a flash of light from the purple haze in the sky. 

“(Y/n)! Are you okay?” You heard someone call through the static.

“I’m fine!” you called back realizing you were crying. “My left engine is out. I’m stranded.”

“I’ll pick them up. You guys go ahead and fight,” Allura said. Within a few moments you were safely inside the blue lion. “Are you okay?” Allura asked upon seeing your tears. 

“I’m fine. I just panicked some. I’m so happy you guys came down.” you said. 

“We wouldn’t just leave you,” Allura smiled. “Now hold on. It’s about to be a bumpy ride.” She wasn’t kidding. You had a very tough time staying on your feet inside the blue lion. The fight took quite a bit of time to finish, but eventually it was over and you were back in the castle safe and sound. 

You didn’t want to fix your ship right away. The anxiety and adrenaline from before had you shaking. You just wanted a hot meal and a bed, but before you could get it you asked Hunk to check your shoulder. 

“The bruise doesn’t look like it’s going away,” Hunk told you. “You might have a hairline fracture or something. You should really get in a pod or put a sling on your arm.”

“I might take the pod. Maybe it can help my nerves too. I’m still so shaky from panicking about being stuck. You guys couldn’t hear me and it was a miracle I didn’t crash my ship or get seen by any Galra. I still have no idea what I hit. I didn’t know if you guys would hit it. I didn’t want you guys to think I just bailed in the middle of the mission and-”

“Breathe,” Hunk cut you off. You were rambling. “You’re here for us and we’re here for you. We wouldn’t have left that planet without searching high and low for you. I know you would never leave us like that. Now let’s see if we can find Coran and get you into a pod.” 

Hunk walked with you to Coran and to the pod. When you got out of the pod Hunk and Coran were still there. You didn’t really know how long you were in it, but seeing them when you got out meant a lot. Hunk checked your shoulder one last time. He said there was still a small bruise but it was a lot better than before. 

After the pod, you ate some food goo then headed to bed. You thought about sleeping in Coran’s room again. His bed just seemed more comfortable than yours, but you didn’t want to overstep any boundaries. You went to your room and knocked out the second your head hit the pillow. 

You slept soundly until there was a knock at your door. You opened it, but no one was there. You looked down to see a little stuffed creature and a framed picture. The picture was from the dinner with everyone. You were all smiling and having a great time. You put the picture on your wall and put the stuffed whatever it was on your bed. Soon you were asleep again.


	10. A Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have almost no idea where I'm going plot wise, but I'm going to start adding in some stuff from season 5 (as soon as I rewatch it).

Coran suggested you go on a date when you finished your ship again. Of course that made you work twice as fast. You never had a real date. You hung out with people before and you spent a lot of time with Coran, but you never had an official date. 

Coran drove and you sat in the passenger seat quietly watching your surroundings. Your hand intertwined with Coran’s. You adored him. He was so kind and caring. Sitting in your ship with him felt so right. The silence was so comfortable. Just being with him was so comfortable. Eventually Coran landed on what looked to be some sort of asteroid made of glass or maybe diamond. You hopped out of the ship and had a tough time not sliding on the smooth surface. Coran pulled out a blanket and a basket.

“The paladins told me about picnics and I thought this could be fun,” Coran smiled. He put the blanket down and you both sat. You looked out to see millions of glittering stars. 

“Space is just so beautiful,” you said. 

“Not as beautiful as you,” Coran whispered. You still heard him. You turned to him and couldn’t help but smile. You kissed him gently for a moment. 

“I’m so happy I have you,” you said. 

After eating, you and Coran laid back and looked at the stars. You wrapped your arms around one of Coran’s and snuggled close to him. You didn’t want to move. You were so comfortable. 

“So what’s the Altean lifespan like?” You asked. 

“Is that a polite way of asking how old I am?” Coran asked. 

“Kinda, but also I want to know more about you Alteans. You’re pretty interesting.”

“Well, not including the 10,000 deca-phoebs I spent asleep in a pod,” Coran started. “I’m around 600.”

“Holy quiznak are you serious?” You said sitting up. “That’s crazy man. Humans only live for like 80 years. Or deca-phoebs I guess? I’m not sure how the two measure up.” You knew Coran was older than you, but you figured your age difference was by twenty years or so. 

“Is my age a deal breaker?” Coran asked. He sat up as well. 

“Not at all. Obviously I knew you were over 10,000 deca-phoebs. I just thought you were like 10,046.” You laughed. “I still like you a lot.” 

Eventually you had to start packing things up. You slid over to the ship and got an idea. You started sliding around the asteroid like you were ice skating. You slid to Coran and pulled him by the arm to join you. He was much more graceful than you were.

“How’d you get so good at this?” You asked. 

“I had a case of the slipperies a while back. I had a choice to either learn to slide gracefully or flail about for a few days,” he explained. 

“What are the slipperies?”

“Oh well,” he laughed nervously. “Eh, I guess I already told you my age. It doesn’t matter. The slipperies are something later in life Alteans get. It’s a virus that makes you secrete an extremely slick fluid.”

“Oh. That sounds really gross,” you said frankly. 

“It was,” Coran laughed. You both skated about the asteroid for a while. Eventually you slid your way to Coran, but you couldn’t stop. You ended up crashing into him. Even on the slippery surface he barely budged. His stance was solid and unmoving. It was actually impressive. You held each other for a moment before Coran kissed you. Everything melted away the second his lips met yours. His moustache gently brushed against your face. You pulled your lips away and rested your forehead on his. You looked into his gorgeous purple eyes and you just felt that you finally found your place in the universe. 

As you drove back to the castle Coran told you stories of the paladins of old. He talked about how Zarkon went from trusted friend of Alfor to enemy of the entire universe. It was a wild ride. 

Once at the castle Hunk, Pidge, and Lance pulled you into Pidge’s room and Allura took Coran. Gossip was probably scarce when you had a serious job of defending the universe. 

“Spill it. What happened on the date?” Pidge asked. 

“Is this an interrogation?” You asked in response. 

“We don’t have much to entertain us.” Hun explained. “We beat the only video games we have like three times.”

“Yeah and this is the closest thing we have to a novella,” Lance said. “So spill.”

“We just went on a simple date. A picnic in space and some skating. He told me how old he actually is which is crazy. The dude is ancient, but he’s just really great. He’s so smart and weird.” You started to ramble about Coran and after a couple of minutes you realized you were rambling and you stopped. 

“Oh my gosh you love him,” Lance giggled. 

“I don’t use that word, but sure. I do have strongish feelings for him.” You said. Pidge’s face lit up and you could practically hear her said time to psychologically pick you apart.

“So why don’t you use the word love?” Pidge asked. Here we go.

“Love to me means attachment and I don’t get attached… You know when I say it outloud I hear the deeper problem with it. I will address that another day.” You said. “Anyways, the date went well and I really like Coran. So I’ll be sticking around and such. Is that all you wanted to know?”

“Have you kissed?” Lance asked.

“What are you twelve? Of course we’ve kissed.” You said. “We kissed.” You couldn’t help but smile.

“That is adorable,” Hunk said. 

Eventually the topic of conversation shifted from you to the others. Lance mentioned something about home and then you were all talking about Earth and family. That’s when you realized you had a family. Your mother may have passed, but you had the paladins and the princess and Coran. You had a family. 

You never thought you’d have a home or a family. You moved around so much and you really didn’t need a home or family. You just needed your wits and skills. Your life changed the day Pidge saved you, and you couldn’t be happier about it. 

After some time with the kids you finally left Pidge’s room. You walked around the castle halls for a while grinning ear to ear. You were home. 

As you walked toward the castle prison you noticed Shiro walking too. You paused for a moment to gain a bit of distance then began to quietly follow him. Just as you expected he walked into the prison area. You gained on him a bit to slide through the door opening before it closed completely. Once inside you could hear Shiro talking to Lotor. You couldn’t make out what they were saying, but they were definitely talking. 

“Shiro?” You finally said out loud as if shocked to see him there too. His shot around and his arm started to glow. “Shit dude chill out it’s just me,” you panicked and stepped into the light. 

“What are you doing here?” Shiro asked. 

“I walk around a lot. You can even ask Lotor. He’s seen me a lot.” Your voice cracked. Shiro turned to Lotor. 

“That’s right. They come here often. Most of the time it’s with Coran, but sometimes they’re alone,” Lotor stated. He turned to speak with you. “Shiro and I were discussing the next move.” You knew he was just covering for Shiro, but you couldn’t call him on it. You just had to go with it. “It won’t be for a while, but it will be a big one.”

“I guess I’ll leave you guys to chat. I don’t need to know about it yet right?” You forced a smile. You knew something wasn’t right, but you didn’t know what was really going on. You just had to let them discuss and hope Shiro would make good decisions. 

You left the prison and went toward your room until Coran called your name from behind you. He jogged a little to catch up to you. Instead of going to your room you went to his. You found yourself being spooned by him again. Although you wanted to be in the moment, your mind was a million miles away.

“Are you okay?” Coran asked. 

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” you lied. “I’m just kind of tired.”

“I can leave if you want or take you to your room.” Coran offered.

“No, I want to be here with you,” you said. You did want to be with Coran. Both because you adored him and because you knew Shiro wouldn’t try to confront you or anything if you were with Coran. It seemed like he knew that you knew Lotor was lying. It was possible you were being paranoid, but you knew better. Shiro was smart. You stayed with Coran and eventually fell asleep facing him.


	11. Nightmare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lmao I did not proof read this. I started it before I left my computer at home for three days and I picked up when I got home. So I hope it's okay

You were stuck in darkness. Air seemed to escape you. Your lungs burned. You looked around in a panic hoping to see someone. There was no one. You were alone in the void. You tried calling for someone. Anyone. You couldn’t speak. Tears ran down your face. You were dying alone. Something you knew what happened, but you still feared it. 

Suddenly you woke up gasping for air causing Coran to wake up as well. 

“(Y/n) are you okay?” He asked. You threw yourself into his arms and cried. This was the fifth time you had that dream. Coran comforted you as you sobbed against him. 

“I’m sorry,” you managed to say through the sobs. “I hate this stupid fucking dream.” You began to calm yourself, but you didn’t want to leave Coran’s arms yet.

“Why don’t you go for a ride later today?” Coran suggested. “It may clear your head and help you. It’s been awhile since you’ve left the castle.”

“No I don’t want to be alone.” You said. You never thought you would say those words. “I’m alone in the dream. Dying in space. I can breathe. I can’t speak.”

“I promise that won’t happen.” Coran whispered to you. He held you tighter. “I’m here for you. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”

You were finally able to calm yourself completely and you finally left Coran’s embrace. Your body felt heavy and tired. You wished the dream would stop. It got to the point that you didn’t want to sleep. You didn’t even know where that dream was coming from or why it was repeating over and over. You just wanted it to stop.

Coran left the room to get you some water. You wrapped yourself in his blanket and just waited for him to come back. He didn’t take long. You drank the water then you had to get out of the room. You just had to do something to distract yourself from the dream. 

You were nonstop that day. You jumped around from person to person just to keep yourself together. You even had a training session with Shiro. That’s when it became obvious something was wrong. You lost yourself during a sparring match and accidentally shot Shrio in the stomach with your blaster.

“Shiro!” You gasped rushing to Shiro doubled over. “I am so sorry. Are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine,” he groaned. “Great shot. Thankfully I have the paladin armor right. That’s still going to leave a bruise.” You helped Shiro to his feet and walked with him to the lounge. 

“Again I am so sorry.” You said.

“Don’t be,” Shiro smiled. “It’s a sign of progress. Now we don’t have to be as worried sending you into battle.”

Oh crap I broke Shiro, you though. He was never that nice to you before. 

“So how are things with you and Coran?” Shiro asked. 

“We’re great… Are you sure you’re okay?” You said. “You aren’t usually this chatty with me.” 

“I promise I’m fine,” Shiro laughed. “I’ve been stressed a lot lately. That’s probably why I may seem weird sometimes.” 

You didn’t trust that. You talked to Lance enough to know this isn’t Shiro at all. You couldn’t judge because you never knew the real Shiro, but you trusted Lance. If he said something was up then something was up. 

You stayed with someone all day. You hung out with Coran and Allura before training with Shiro. After training you played video games with Pidge and her brother who would be staying for a while. After that you hung out with Hunk and Lance. By the end of the day you walked with Coran to your room.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay in my room again? I know you said you don’t want to be alone.” Coran said. He was worried about you.

“I don’t want to wake you up again. Every time I have that dream I wake up in a panic and I end up waking you up too. Get a good night’s sleep and I’ll see you in the morning.” You kissed Coran lightly and watched as he walked to his room. In truth you really didn’t want to wake him up, but that wasn’t the only reason you weren’t sleeping in his room. You didn’t plan on sleeping that night. You knew you’d fall asleep wrapped in his arms and you didn’t want him to worry if you did manage to stay awake all night. 

You waited in your room for a while to make sure everyone went to bed. Then you made your way to Lotor. You didn’t know what his sleep schedule was like or if he even slept, but tonight you were going to stay up with him. After all you still didn’t want to be alone. 

“(Y/n)? What are you doing here? Coran already did his nightly walk.” Lotor said when he saw you. 

“I’ve been having a shitty dream lately and I don’t want to sleep because of it,” you explained. “I also don’t want to be alone.”

“It’s just a dream.” Lotor scoffed. 

“Yeah I know. Humans are simple, irrational creatures okay. If you really want to act all high and mighty I could bring up the fact I know you were lying when you said you and Shiro were just talking about the next mission.” You said. “I don’t need to know what you were talking about. Just know if either of you hurt anyone on this ship I-”

“Yes, I lied okay. You don’t have to get threatening. We aren’t going to hurt anyone.” Lotor cut you off. “Besides, you may be able to beat Shiro now, but you wouldn’t be able to beat me. Now what’s with this dream you’ve been having?”

You sat with Lotor and talked all night. He wasn’t the most compassionate being to talk to, but he had some good insight on things. Eventually morning rolled around. You only knew this because Shiro came in. He said everyone had been looking for you. You sluggishly left Shiro and Lotor to talk then made your way to the lounge. 

You flopped on the couch and struggled to keep your eyes open. Soon Coran and Allura came in. Coran sat near you and you crawled to put your head in his lap. 

“Did you sleep last night?” Allura asked. “You look… awful.”

“Gee thanks Allura. I couldn’t sleep,” you lied. 

“Why don’t you sleep now?” Coran asked as he stroked your hair. 

“I’m not tired,” you lied again. You couldn’t even keep your eyes open. 

“I’ll go let the others know you’re okay,” Allura said. It was just an excuse to leave you alone with Coran.

“You need to sleep,” Coran said quietly. “I know this dream is bugging you, but you still need to sleep. I’ll be right here for you.” As Coran spoke you felt your body get heavier. You just needed a quick cat nap. Sleep slowly drifted over you. You didn’t dream. You fell into darkness for a couple of hours. When you woke up you were still looking up at Coran. You sat up and snuggled next to him. He wrapped an arm around you. Everything in that moment felt perfect. You were warm and safe with someone you loved. 

Someone you loved...


	12. Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda short but woohoo some cute shit. I still have no idea how to write kissing scenes so I am sorry about that lmao.  
> Also I am rewatching season 5 now and wow did I forget some stuff. Like that fact to get to Lotor's holding cell you would have to take an elevator. Oh well this is fan fiction after all. So season 5 story is coming along now. I can't wait till season 6!

“I love Coran,” you said rushing into Pidge’s room. You Lance and Hunk were in there. You did not know Matt and Keith were also in there. 

“I called it!” Lance yelled.

“Man I have missed a lot haven’t I?” Keith asked. “I knew you guys were dating but wow.”

“That’s what happens when you aren’t around for months or phoebs or whatever the quizaking unit of time is,” you laughed. “But seriously I am kind of panicking about this.” It had been quite some time since you realized you did love Coran. You came to terms with saying it out loud to yourself. It was exciting but also terrifying. You wanted to tell someone but you didn’t want to tell Coran just yet. 

“I thought you didn’t use the word love.” Pidge said.

“I usually don’t” you said. “But also I usually don’t stay in one place this long and I usually don’t get this attached to people. This is the first time I’ve felt any of these feelings. I feel like I belong here and I feel like I love Coran.”

“This is adorable,” Matt laughed. “Have you told him yet?”

“I have not.” you admitted. Everyone encouraged you to tell him. Of course you wanted to. You were able to tell him you liked him so you should be able to tell him you love him. Even if he didn’t feel the same, you trusted him enough to let him know. 

Hunk had a great idea to make a date of it. He would cook dinner for you and Coran. A table for two was set and had a single candle in the middle. Lance went to get Coran as you waited patiently. 

“Excited?” Hunk asked.

“Very,” you said. “Also nervous, terrified, and just really happy. Thank you so much for doing this.”

“It’s no problem. We’re all really excited to see you and Coran together. You make a good couple.” Hunk said. 

Coran came through the door and you felt your heartbeat pick up. You stood to greet him with a kiss. Hunk left the room and came back with two plates of food. He set them down then winked at you before leaving the room. You glanced over for a second and saw Pidge, Keith, Lance, Matt, and Hunk all peaking out at you and Coran.

“This is really nice,” Coran smiled. “I’m really happy we can have times like this.”

“Coranic, I have something to tell you,” you said. “We’ve been together for a while and I realized something. You’re so very important to me. You’re always there for me and you always know how to cheer me up. You’re perfect to me. I love you, Coran.” A moment of silence passed. You didn’t realize it but you were holding your breath.

“I love you too, (y/n),” Coran finally said. Not only did you exhale, but you could hear others exhale from the kitchen. “From the moment I met you, I knew you’d be so special to me. I was so afraid I’d lose you as soon as your ship was done. I’m so happy you decided to stay. I’m so happy with what we’ve become.”

You could feel tears in your eyes. Coran meant the universe to you and hearing how he felt just melted you. 

After eating you and Coran helped Hunk clean up. When you went into the kitchen everyone seemed to scatter except Hunk. He said he could handle it, but helping him was the least you two could do. When you finished with everything Coran led you to the lounge. He sat on the couch and you sat next to him. The lights were dimmed and you were alone with the man you loved. 

“This is exactly where I belong,” you whispered to Coran. “This is my place in the universe. All those years of travelling and never knowing home. Never knowing how good things could be. It all led me to something so fantastic. I love you so much.”

Coran kissed you softly and you kissed back a little more rough. Coran caught on and lightly bit your bottom lip. He released then moved toward your ear. He whispered “I love you too,” before he moved down a little and kissed your neck. Coran was over 600 deca-phoebs old. Obviously he learned a thing or two in that time. 

Coran pulled back from you for a second just to look into your eyes. It was such an intimate moment with him. He leaned in again and kissed you so gently. 

“You really know how to make me feel young again,” Coran laughed. 

“I love this. I love being part of the team. I love you. I love saying that.” You kissed Coran again to shut yourself up. The night carried on and next thing you knew you were waking up with your head on Coran’s chest. You were still in the lounge. You moved as carefully as possible so you wouldn’t wake Coran. 

You took some time to take a shower. You stepped out and wiped the condensation off the mirror. You studied yourself for a second before noticing a very obvious purple hickey on your neck. You moved your had over it remembering where Coran’s lips were the night before. You knew the paladins would probably tease about it, but you didn’t really mind. You adored Coran and you loved the reminder he left on your neck. 

You went back to the lounge and sat on the other couch waiting for Coran to wake up. You watched his chest rise and fall with each breath he took. He was so peaceful as he slept. After a few minutes he started to stir and he woke up. He rolled to his side and looked to you.

“Morning,” you smiled. Coran smiled sleepily. He looked at you and suddenly his eyes shot open and he flew to you.

“Did I hurt you last night?” He asked. You were confused. 

“No, you didn’t hurt me. Last night was fun,” you said.

“But you have a bruise on your neck,” Coran pointed out. When you realized he meant the hickey you couldn’t help but laugh a little. 

“It’s not a bruise. It’s called a hickey. It’s caused by kissing and stuff. Alteans don’t get hickeys?” You asked still laughing a little. 

“We do not. That’s interesting. So the paladins-”

“Yeah the paladins will know,” you cut him off. Coran blushed lightly. “It’s fine though. I don’t mind showing off a love bite.” You gave Coran a peck on the cheek. “Maybe I’ll get another someday,” you teased. 

“Definitely,” Coran smiled. “But for now, we have some work to do.”


	13. Commander Holt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another shortish chapter. I covered the first two episodes of season 5 so it's more canon plot than Coran fic romance. Canon kind of makes it hard to flirt with Coran. I hope he gets more story in season 6.

The most recent mission was panic for you. You had to stay back at the castle. At one point Voltron was buried in lava. It really wracked your nerves, but the paladins managed to take down a vital base that supplied much of the empire. Shiro thought it best that you all move on to the next step and trust Lotor. 

Allura was still hesitant. Lotor was still an enemy to her. Since you trusted Allura more than Shiro you were on her side. That was until Lotor dropped the bomb. 

He knew where Pidge and Matt’s father was last held. 

Pidge ran off the second she heard. Matt followed. Rolo, Nyma, and Beezer provided back up. You never met them personally, but you knew they were trusted by the team. All you would do was sit and wait to hear back from Pidge. You paced about the lounge in anticipation. Pidge being reunited with her father would make her so happy. It was her main focus. 

Unfortunately Pidge and Matt came home empty handed. They managed to bring back others, but not their father. 

You were all gathered in the control room when the transmission came in. It was Zarkon. You held on to Coran’s arm tightly. 

“Paladins of Voltron,” Zarkon started. “I am making a one time offer. I have someone of value to you.” Zarkon stepped aside for a second revealing a human being held by other aliens.

“Dad,” Pidge said. 

“I will hand him over and in exchange you will give me my son, Lotor.” Zarkon said. He explained the rules of the deal in great detail. There was no questioning it. Lotor would be traded for Commander Holt and that was that. 

Shiro, Matt and Pidge loaded into a ship with Lotor as a prisoner. You were worried. It must have been a trap, but you wouldn’t dare say anything. Pidge and Matt getting their father back was more important than anything Lotor could have done for any of you. You stayed in the control room sick with worry. Due to the rules of the exchange the castle had to stay at a pretty far distance. 

“I hate being so far out of range,” Coran yelled.

“Zarkon’s fleet is also out of range. Those are the terms we agreed to,” Allura said. She was right. Still, it wasn’t comfortable to be so far away. You wanted to hop in your ship and get closer, but you knew it would jeopardize things. You watched unblinking as two blips on the map walked toward each other. 

Pidge ran to her father and phazed right through him. You clenched your fists. 

“Lotor was right. Zarkon double crossed us,” Hunk said. It was no surprise really. 

“Everyone get to your lions, we’re going in,” Lance commanded. 

“Lance we can’t. Zarkon still has Sam.” Allura said. “If we do anything now we might put his life in jeopardy.” 

“Allura’s right,” Coran said. “If we move in Zarkon’s fleet moves in as well.”

“But without Lotor as a prisoner we don’t hold any cards,” Hunk pointed out. “We’re powerless what do we do?”

“We hold out positions,” Allura replied. 

Next thing you knew there was a fight on the ground. Pidge, Shiro, and Matt zipped towards the Galra ship. 

“Pidge, Shiro, and Matt are moving in!” Hunk pointed out. 

“Zarkon’s fleet is mobilizing as well!” Coran added. 

You didn’t hear anything else. You were already sprinting to your ship. You put your headset on and flew out. You noticed the yellow, blue, and red lions flying out as well. Shiro called for help and Lance reassured everyone was already on their way. 

As you flew over head you saw Lotor battling Zarkon. Lotor had the black beyard. At the same time the Galra ship flew almost straight up then went into a nosedive. You attempted to help, but nearly got shot down in the process. You had to help the lions fight the incoming fleet. 

Out of the corner of your eye you noticed an ion cannon charging. It was aimed at the red lion. Before you could even say anything, shots rained from the sky. You looked up to see the castle of lions joining the fight. 

“Coran!” You and the paladins said in unison. 

“I thought you could use a little help.” Coran said. Within minutes the sky was cleared. The shuttle with Pidge and the others however, was not clear. It soon pulled up some from its nosedive. Then the hatch opened and three aliens dropped out. You looked carefully to ensure none of your friends were dropping. 

“The shuttle is clear,” Shiro said moments later. You took a deep breath. Then you realized Lotor was still fighting Zarkon. You told the others and they flew over as quick as possible to help Lotor out. The lions shot at Zarkon. Zarkon tried shooting back, but that just made Lotor move faster to strike a final blow on his father. 

Zarkon, emperor of the Galra, was dead. Sunlight streaked through clouds over Lotor on his important victory. All you could do was sit in your ship and take a moment to fully process what happened. Of course it was you who had to awkwardly pick up Lotor and bring him back. The trip back to the castle was silent in your ship. Lotor had just killed someone that was deemed unkillable. You were terrified.


	14. Postmortem

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is "Postmortem" (s5ep3). We're halfway through season 5. I really hope y'all are enjoying the story. I have no idea what I'm doing. I didn't realize it was going to be this long but here we are. I love Coran a lot more now that I've written all of this.

The castle docked on Olkarion. Pidge, Matt, and Sam went to see Ryner. When they got back you and Coran took Pidge and the other paladins to the control room. Lotor and Allura stood before all of you. It really made you think of some of the stories Coran told you about King Alfor and Zarkon. They were friends once. Now their children can be friends if they choose. 

“Look, it’s Prince Lotor just hanging out on the bridge,” Lance sneered. Lance still wasn’t on board with trusting Lotor. You couldn’t really blame him. You didn’t fully trust Lotor either. You knew something was still up between him and Shiro. 

“Guess this is a thing that’s happening,” Pidge added, surprised. 

“I guess we’ll all have to get used to it,” Coran said. “Like my Zarbloovian intestinal eel.”

“Wait your what now?” You asked him. “Nevermind, we have more important things…” You’ll have to ask him about that later. 

“What’s going on Lotor?” Shiro asked stepping forward to Lotor and Allura. Lotor explained that without Zarkon the most eligible leaders will gather for Kral Zera. Then someone would take the throne. 

“We must be there,” Lotor said. 

“You want us to fly you into a meeting with all of the most powerful Galra leaders?” Lance asked. It was rather sketchy. 

“Lotor, we appreciate all that you’ve sacrificed, but this sounds far too dangerous.” Allura said. 

“We’ve been in more dangerous situations with far less to gain,” Shiro chimed in. He was right, but still this wasn’t a good plan. “Putting Lotor on the Galra throne is what we’ve been discussing.”

“But no one told us that would mean flying into a war zone,” Pidge said. It seemed obvious the only ones in favor of going to Kral Zera were Shiro and Lotor. You and Coran shared a brief look. Neither of you were quite sure what to do. 

“We can not plan an operation this important so quickly,” Allura said. 

“We don’t have a choice,” Shiro told her. 

“I’m with Allura on this,” Lance spoke up. “We need time to think this over.” 

“Lance this is not your call,” Shiro said. The tension in the air was getting thicker. “Allura, the coalition wouldn’t be where it is right now without Lotor. We need to listen to him.”

“Well, I’m with Allura too. This is too dangerous to plan last minute.” Pidge said. She was right. 

“Honestly we would need more time, and we don’t have that.” You chimed in. 

“Agreed,” Coran said. “So it looks like it’s five-to-two in the princesses favor.” 

“This isn’t a vote,” Shiro sneered. “I’m the leader of Voltron. I’m making this decision.”

“Like when you armed Lotor with your bayard without consulting the rest of us?” Allura fought back. 

“That’s right! Making that decision resulted in the removal of Zarkon,” Shiro said. 

“You put the entire operation in jeopardy,” Allura continued the back and forth. 

“I put an end to Zarkon’s reign. It’s time to finish the job.” Shiro demanded. 

“Shiro we’re all on the same side here,” Lance stepped forward.

“I told you to stay out of this!” Shiro snapped. Rage built up inside you and Coran had to put out his arm to hold you back from doing something stupid. 

“Just take a deep breath dear,” Coran whispered to you. How dare Shiro speak to Lance like that. You gripped your fists so tight your nails dug into your skin. 

“While you all waste time squabbling,” Lotor started, “sinister forces are conspiring to fill the Galra power void. If I do not return to claim the throne, there is no telling who will.”

“It’s settled then,” Shiro said. You were beyond angry. You were pissed off. As tensions slowly settled everyone made their ways out of the room. You stood with Coran at the control panel and Shiro was at his station. It was obvious you were still angry about what happened. 

“Everything will be okay,” Coran said to you. “Just take a breath.” You closed your eyes and took a deep breath. “Better?” Coran asked. You just nodded your head. There was a crash outside on the castle. Suddenly the screen lit up with Ryner on it. 

“Ryner hailing castle of lions,” she said. 

“Ryner what was that?” Coran asked. 

“A meteor-like object struck the forest outside of the city,” Ryner explained. “We’re detecting high levels of an unknown toxin emanating from the impact site.”

“I’ll check it out,” Shiro offered. He zipped out and you waited for an update from him. “I’m detecting movement ahead.” He finally said. “Coran, I’m going in for a closer look.” Seconds later Shiro spoke again. “Coran, we might have a big problem here.”

“How big?” Coran asked.

“Coran, send out the team,” Shiro commanded. Coran told you to get one of the ships from the castle to help out. You both knew your tiny ship couldn’t do much. You sprinted out and choose a spacecraft and random. 

The lions flew out to the forest to help Shiro. You went to the city to help the Olkari. The city was already covered in vines and branches. It wasn’t until you were there that you realized you left your headset in your ship. You poked around the ship hoping to find a communicator or something. Finally you managed to pop open a video chat with Coran. 

“Finally!” You said. “Okay so I don’t know what’s up but the forest, but it’s attacking the city and the Olkari.”

“Pidge thinks it’s some sort of invasive plasma.” Coran explained. “Matt and Sam are trying to figure out what it is. Try to help the Olkari.”

“Got it,” you said. You zipped closer to the ground. That was a mistake. You could faintly hear Hunk and Allura saying they couldn’t move Voltron’s legs because of the vines. You knew you had to get out of there. The second your tried lifting up your ship stopped. “Coran! I’m stuck.”

“(Y/n)! Don’t panic!” Coran yelled. 

“Coran you’re panicking.” You said calmly. “I’ll be okay. I trust you guys to figure this out.” Your video chat began to cut out. “I love you, Coran.”

“I love you too.” Coran said before the video completely cut out and vines overtook your ship. You waited in darkness hearing rumbling from the outside. It was getting louder and you could feel the vibrations from it. You just had to sit and wait and trust in Voltron. You couldn’t do that. You took a blaster and managed to manually pull open a hatch on the roof. You shot through the vines and made a hole just big enough to crawl through. 

You sprinted out as fast as you could and made your way to Ryner. When you got to the building you had to climb the vines to get to the top. It took a while, but you managed to work fast. You were out of breath by the time you reached the landing pad. Seconds after you ran inside, Matt and Sam ran in as well. 

“We don’t need to stop this. We just need to reroute it.” Matt explained. 

“Grab a headpiece, show me.” Ryner said. Matt and Sam strapped on headpieces and Matt put one on you. 

“Matt, I have no idea what I’m doing,” you said. 

“Just trust me and watch us,” he said. You nodded and joined them. You all placed your hands on different vines and concentrated. Soon a soft hum filled the room. The ion cannon began to charge. You watched as Ryner shot down the Galra ship attacking Voltron. 

“We did it!” Matt said. 

“Now Voltron you must stop that beast!” Ryner commanded. 

You watched Voltron stop a blast from the beast. Voltron flew toward it but got caught in the vines. The red lion was the only one free. It pulled back and shot forward into the beast and blasted it to a pile of smoke and ash. You felt so proud of Lance in that moment. 

Ryner took you on a floating deck and flew you, Matt, and Sam out to Voltron. The paladins sat on the robot’s shoulder. Coran was there too. You traded places with Pidge so she could see her family and so you could see Coran. You ran to him and wrapped him in a hug.

“I was so worried about you,” he said. “I should have known you would get yourself out of there.”

“I couldn’t just sit and wait. I had to help somehow.”

Coran gave you a quick kiss before you both turned to look at the horizon. It was a beautiful end to the day. Allura carefully walked to you and Coran for a moment. 

“(Y/n) do you mind if I steal Coran for a moment?” She asked. 

“Not at all Princess,” you smiled. Coran walked a little up the shoulder and you slid down to Lance. 

“Hey, that was some pretty cool stuff you did,” you said. “You were a real hero today.”

“Just doing my job,” Lance said cheerfully. Shiro got up and Lance shot his head over to watch him. Shiro climbed back into his lion for a moment. “Okay, so something is really up with Shiro.” Lance whispered to you. “When we were in the vines we had to strengthen our bonds with Voltron and we were in this void thing. Shiro was calling out to me. He tried telling me something. Now he says he doesn’t remember it.”

“Honestly Lance, I never knew Shiro before all this, but from what you’ve said I think you’re right. Somethings up. I almost threw hands when he yelled at you earlier.” You paused. “A while back I caught him sneaking out to talk to Lotor. They said they were only discussing the mission to the sentry manufacturer. I knew they were lying. I called Lotor on it a while later and he confessed it was a lie, but he didn’t tell me what was up.”

“We just have to be careful with them,” Lance said. You wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Soon Coran and Allura slid down and sat with you and Lance. Then Hunk joined. Pidge was with her father and brother still. 

The day started with panic and tension, but it ended pretty nicely. You had your family and Olkarion was safe.


	15. Kral Zera (and Bloodlines)

“Kral Zera is the coronation ceremony for the new emperor or empress.” Lotor explained. “It is held on one of the first planets we, the Galra, conquered. Planet Feyiv. A sacred land.”

“Who will be at this Kral Zera?” Shiro asked. 

“Allow me to show you,” he paused. “May I princess?”

“Go ahead.” Allura said. 

Lotor powered up the panel. He showed pictures of generals and warlords. All the Galra that would be fit to rule. Then he pulled up the witch, Haggar. Haggar was not Galra so she wouldn’t be able to rule, but Lotor was certain she had a puppet at the ready. 

Shiro was ready to ship Lotor in. 

“Shiro, we’ve already discussed this. It’s far too risky.” Allura said. You agreed. 

“You know what we just went through on Olkarion. That was only one rouge commander vying for the throne.” Shiro said. “When the Galra lash out, everyone in the universe suffers.”

“How would we even get Lotor there without stirrin up a huge fight?” Pidge asked. 

“I’ll be bringing Voltron.” Lotor said. 

“... Yeah because Voltron never gets in fights,” Hunk said sarcastically. 

“Shiro… We can’t allow that to happen.” Allura said. She was right. Taking Voltron to the Kral Zera would be stupid. 

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Shiro said. He began to walk away. You knew he was up to something. 

“Uh, what’s up with Shiro?” Hunk asked. No one knew so no one answered. Eventually everyone started to disperse. Soon it was you and Coran. 

“The last couple days have been crazy. So much happened. Too much happened.” You said. 

“At least now we have some alone time,” Coran purred. He pulled you to him and rested his forehead on yours. “I could stay like this forever you know.”

“Me too.” You said. Coran slowly moved and put his lips on yours. You melted into the moment. Then a screen popped up with Allura on it. You and Coran pushed each other away. 

“Sorry for interrupting.” Allura said. “We have an emergency. Shiro and Lotor are gone.”

“Son of a bitch!” You said. You ran to your ship and set out with the lions. The trip to Feyiv took minutes. You went through a wormhole generated by the castle. You were pissed off. Shiro betrayed Allura and took Lotor to the Kral Zera. When you did finally get there a battle was raging on. 

“You look like you could use some help!” Lance said blastin down a ship. 

“We got your back Shiro,” Hunk added. 

“Okay team, let’s form Voltron.” Shiro commanded. 

You helped cover them and they transformed into the robot. It took a while to do, but it looked pretty cool. You were still pissed, but you didn’t want the paladins getting hurt. Meanwhile, Lotor was on the ground battling a Galra named Sendak. You would have helped him out, but you didn’t want to chance accidentally hitting him. Soon enough Lotor was climbing the stairs and the Galra fleets began to retreat. Voltron landed and so did you. You all watched as Lotor lit the top on fire making him the new Galra emperor. When it was done, you were the first to get back to the castle. 

Instead of meeting at the bridge you all went to the docks. Commander Holt was going home and you were all seeing him off. 

“As soon as I get back, I’ll inform the Galaxy Garrison what’s going on and start working to upgrade our planetary defense.” Sam said. 

“Tell Iverson the next time I see him I’m gonna kick his butt for strapping me to that table,” Shiro laughed. 

“I’ll be sure to tell him that,” Sam chuckled. 

“Hey, I had everyone record messages for our families.” Hunk said. “Uh heads up I got a little teary in mine so… that’s mom’s eyes only. Oh and you don’t want to see Lance’s either since it’s probably just a love message to Jenny Shaybon or the other Jenny… What was her name again?”

“Shut up Hunk!” Lance said. 

“Okay I was just joking around, geez.” Hunk said. “Are you okay dude?”

“I’m fine,” Lance lied. “It’s just. Once I started thinking about going back to Earth I...I started missing my mom and my brother Marco and my brother Luis and my sister Veronica and my grandma and…” Lance started tearing up. 

“Um are you crying?” Hunk asked.

“No!” Lance sniffled. “I just. I just got some space dust in my eyes. It’s very dusty in here.”

“I guess this is it.” Commander Holt said. 

“I wish I could go with you,” Matt said. “I’d love to help build Earth’s first galactic defense system.”

“I’m just worried we won’t have enough time and resources to make a dent before we need it.” Sam admitted.

“A wise man once told me ‘If you’re worried about what could go wrong, you might miss your chance to do something great.’” Pidge smiled. 

“Sounds like a wise man indeed,” Sam said. “Matt, you be careful on the frontlines. And Pidge keep an eye on your brother for me.”

“You got it dad.” Pidge said. All three began to tear up. 

“I love you both so much,” Sam cried. 

“We love you too dad,” Pide responded. 

Hunk, Lance, Coran, and you were in a group crying. 

“There is a lot of space dust in here,” Hunk said. 

“It’s filthy,” Coran cried as he slid down Lance. You wiped your eyes and helped Coran up. Pidge and Matt raced to the bride so they could see their father off through the wormhole. 

“You guys will see Earth again one day,” you told Hunk and Lance. “We’ll all see Earth someday.” You held back more tears and let the boys cry it out. 

When everyone calmed down you all went to see the new emperor of the Galra, Lotor. It was nice to be on a Galra ship and not feel the impending doom. You walked into a large room with sentries lined on either side. 

“Thank you for coming my friends,” Lotor smiled. “I have prepared a new imperial banner to herald out alliance. This is the same symbol that flew over our fathers when they worked together as the original Paladins of Voltron. I hope that we can return the universe to that golden age. Since I ascended to the throne, the Galra Empire has been torn apart. A sizeable portion has sworn its allegiance to me. However, massive factions remain in revolt.”

“Uh okay, the Galra aren’t exactly known to turn the other cheek.” Hunk said. 

“They’re more likely to swing the other fist.” Lance added. 

“How do you get an empire that’s only known violence for thousands of years to put down their weapons?” Shiro asked. 

“By providing them with the very thing they’re fighting for,” Lotor answered. Quintessence. Unlimited amounts of it. And Allura, you’re the key to getting it. I’m sure you’ll be interested in inspecting every aspect of the Galra headquarters.”

“I’d like to cross reference our star charts with current Galra troop locations.” Shiro said. 

“Consider it done,” Lotor smirked. 

“You want to sync our intelligence to the Galra headquarters?” Coran asked. “Oh I thought I’d never see the quiznaking quintet.” 

“Sentry, take them to the record room,” Lotor said. “You will find everything you need there.” 

You followed the sentry with Coran and Shiro. You would be able to work with Coran and just hang out for a while. Shiro would be there too, but you could handle him. The sentry took you to a large room with some paper charts and a control panel. Shiro fired it up and scrolled through it. Even though there were some physical copies of maps and charts, they were all in the system as well. 

You, Shiro, and Coran went through each and every document. At some point you couldn’t taking it anymore. Your eyes were strained and and you had a headache. 

“I think I’m gonna go scope out some other places,” you said. 

“Coran, why don’t you go with them?” Shiro said. He winked at Coran. 

“Sure, it’ll be nice to actually have some alone time,” Coran smiled. He took your hand and led you out of the room. You didn’t trust Shiro, but you did want to be with Coran. You asked a sentry if there were any rooms you could use. Sure enough there was one. The sentry took you to a lounge kind of room. There was a couch and a large screen. 

“This will not be the first time I’ve been alone with a guy in a Galra ship,” you admitted.

“Trying to make me jealous?” Coran joked. 

“Eh, none of them were anything special. One of them was actually Matt.” You said.

“Matt?!” Coran coughed. 

“Don’t worry, I just helped rescue him.” You laughed. “Speaking of doing stuff with other guys, isn’t it so weird to you that Lotor is Zarkon’s son? Like that means Zarkon did stuff with someone else. Who did this?”

“Lotor’s mother probably. And yes it is very weird,” Coran said. 

“Well, I guess he wasn’t always so cold and poisoned by quintessence. It’s so weird how one little thing could change someone so much.” You said. 

“I hear that. I once had a brain worm that made me go all screwy.” Coran laughed.

“You had a what?”

“A brain worm. It helped me focus and such while Voltron was touring to expand the coalition.” he explained. “I almost killed the whole team with a monster.”

“So it was like a drug? And what of that eel in your intestines?” you asked. “You know what, I actually don’t want to know. You know what I do want?” You smirked. 

“Why don’t you show me?” Coran said.

You pulled him closer and kissed him passionately. You stumbled back until you found the couch then you pulled Coran down with you. He pulled back from the kiss and smiled down at you. He moved his mouth to your neck and you let out a little gasp. It was bliss. 

After fooling around for a while you sat up and Coran rested his head in your lap. You ran your fingers through his hair and played with his moustache a little. 

“You’re adorable,” you giggled. “I love everything about you. Your voice. Your hair. Your Altean markings. I just love you.” 

“You just love to boost my ego.” Coran joked. 

“You know it babe… So do you think Lotor is trying to pull something with Allura?” You asked. 

“What do you mean?” Coran asked. 

“Nothing. It’s just a weird feeling I have about him. It’s probably because I still don’t trust him fully.” 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Coran asked. He sat up. 

“He looks at her differently and he worked so hard to gain her trust specifically. I just don’t want it to be a trap. I don’t want him to lure her into this false sense of security. Or he may be interested in her.” You thought for a second. “I could be imagining the whole thing. I just worry about her. I worry about all the paladins now.”

“If it is some sort of trap, we just have to be on guard. If he is interested in her and she becomes interested in him, we just have to support her the way she has supported us.” Coran said. “I worry about them too. I’m the oldest here. I always feel like I’m responsible for them. Whenever they face a tough mission and get stuck somewhere I feel absolutely panicked. What if they don’t come back? It’s even worse now that Allura pilots the blue lion. She used to be safe on the castle, but now she’s out there throwing herself into danger.”

“Hey, it’s okay.” You comforted Coran. You wrapped your arms around him. “They’ll always come back. I promise. Allura is safe in her lion. Voltron won’t let anything bad happen to the paladins.”

“When we were on Olkarion I didn’t know what to do. I lost contact with everyone.” Coran started to tear up. “I didn’t know if you were okay, I didn’t know if the paladins could pull through. I don’t know what I would have done without all of you.”

“Coran, don’t think of that now. We’re all here and we’re all safe.” You said. “We’re all safe.” You repeated. “This war is hard, but now Lotor is in charge. We’re closer than ever to finishing this. One day we won’t have to fight. I know as long as Voltron has you for back up, the paladins will always be safe.” You held Coran for a while to help him calm down. It didn’t really occur to you that Coran was so worried. He always seemed so calm and collected. 

Eventually you both decided to go back to Shiro and see if he needed anything. Coran was feeling better. You were happy he could get stuff off his chest. On the way back to Shiro you almost got ran over by Lance, Pidge, and Hunk with a sentry and a hover cart. Then you got called out by Shiro for having a hickey. All in all it was an interesting time. 

At the end of the day you felt closer to Coran. You were happy he could open up to you and you could open up to him. The relationship was running along perfectly. You couldn’t have asked for more.


	16. White Lion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay there's implied Lotaura in this but it's more or less a plot point. I have no idea what season 6 has in store so I might wait to update until then. However, it's still two weeks away and I really like this story so who knows.

The whole team including Lotor gathered on the bridge. Allura held a glowing rock in her hands. She brought it back from Galra headquarters. 

“So this magic rock is going to guide us to a mysterious planet?” Pidge asked. 

“A land known as Oriande,” Lotor clarified. Coran chuckled a bit. 

“I’m afraid someone’s been ruggling your wimble, Prince Lotor,” Coran said. “Oriande is just an Altean folktale. It doesn’t actually exist.”

“That’s what I thought Coran,” Allura chimed in. “But now I have a feeling it is quite real.”

“It is the birthplace of all Altean alchemy. The place where King Alfor learned the secrets that helped him create Voltron and where Allura will master those same secrets so that my ships may enter the quintessence field.”

You wanted to say something, but you bit your tongue. You really wanted to trust Lotor. If he did betray Allura in the end you would just have to cross that bridge when you came to it. 

“And what makes you the authority on crazy Altean nonsense?” Lance asked. It seems you could bite your tongue, but he couldn’t bite his. “Coran knows more magical made-up gobbledygook than anyone I’ve ever met.” Well, he wasn’t wrong. 

“Thank you, Lance,” Coran smiled. “And I can assure you, King Alfor never mentioned anything to me about travelling to Oriande.” 

“In all likelihood he kept it a secret from everyone.” Lotor explained. “I’ve been researching Oriande for centuries, hoping to learn more about my Altean ancestry. Over time, I have managed to gather evidence from all over the universe that hinted at its existence. Now thanks to Princess Allura, I will finally gaze upon its magnificence with my own eyes.” 

Allura grinned. 

“Uh aren’t you a little busy running your empire to take a magical vacation?” Hunk cut in. 

“In order to transition the Galra empire to a peaceful existence, I need to open up a pathway to the quintessence field. Once my people have access to unlimited energy, the old ways of the empire will be behind them.” Lotor explained. 

“If this voyage is successful,” Allura said, “the universe will finally be on the path to peace.” 

“Well, let’s find out where we’re going.” Shiro said. 

Allura started up the giant holographic map and the glowing rock in her hands shot out a beam of light. The light illuminated one specific area on the map.

“There, in between those three celestial bodies,” Allura presented. “That’s where we’re headed.” 

“Wait a tick, that’s the Patrulian Zone,” Coran halted. 

“The what now?” Lance asked. 

“The Patrulian Zone is a mysterious part of space where ships enter and are never heard from again,” Coran explained. 

“Sounds like the right place then,” you said under your breath.

“Princess, that area has been deemed unsafe to navigate for ages.” Coran said.

“The perfect place to hide a magical world.” Lotor said. 

“... or to crash and die,” Pidge snarked. 

You all looked to Allura. You knew the final call was hers. You also knew that no matter how worried Coran was, he’d follow the princess blindly. 

“We will approach with caution.” Allura finally said. “Prepare our course, Coran.” 

“Yes, princess.” Coran said unenthused. You knew that Coran thought it was a bad idea, but he was loyal to Allura. You knew he would be beyond worried. He didn’t look it, but he was stressed. You walked with him to the control panel and watched as he worked. 

“Do you really think we should be doing this?” You whispered to him making sure no one else heard. 

“No, but we’re doing it anyways.” He replied. When the wormhole opened you took Coran’s hand.

“Everything will be okay,” you reassured him. 

You went through the wormhole and hundreds of destroyed ships floated about. 

“We’re approaching the Patrulian Zone,” Coran said out loud for everyone to hear. 

“What’s up ahead? An asteroid belt?” Shiro asked.

“No,” you said horrified.

“It’s a graveyard,” Coran continued your thought. You felt your breathing get heavy and you gripped Coran’s hand tighter. Visions of your nightmare of dying alone in space crept in. 

“What caused them all to lose power?” Hunk asked. 

“No one knows,” Coran replied. You felt yourself on the verge of panic. The ship slowly approached a large white light with no known origin.

“I think we just found out…” Pidge said. 

You and Coran gasped in unison upon seeing the funnel of light before you. Everyone gawked at it. 

“Is that some kind of supermassive star?” Lance asked. 

“No! Unbelievable!” Pidge said. “It’s a white hole,” you spoke in unison with Pidge. 

“Whoa, take that theoretical physics!” Hunk said. 

“What’s a white hole?” Lance asked. 

“Well, unlike a black hole, which has massive gravity that sucks everything it, a white hole is an opposite body that shoots massive amounts of energy out from an unknown source.” Pidge explained. 

“It’s blasting this whole area with crazy high radiation.” Hunk said. 

“All that energy must have fried those ships’ systems.” Shiro concluded. 

“The wise stand back from the fire, fools are burned on the pyre. The mystic becomes one with the flame, the embers and he are the same.” Lotor spoke. 

“Is that like a song you’re working on? Cause it sucks,” Lance said. It did kind of suck, but it wasn’t a song. 

“It’s a poem by an ancient Altean alchemist,” Lotor clarified. “I discovered it carved next to a cave painting on a fiery sphere. I never realized until now that it describes the route to Orinade. We must go into the white hole.” Lotor looked at Allura. 

“So we’re navigating by cave poetry now?” Hunk asked. 

“How are we to go through the white hole?” Pidge asked. 

“Honestly! Do you not see the dead ships around us?” You snapped. “If we get any closer we’ll end up like them!” Coran squeezed your hand a bit.

“We wormhole in,” Allura stated. 

“Princess no!” Coran said immediately releasing your hand and turning to Allura. 

“Voltron can withstand forces other ships cannot.” Allura said. 

Even Shiro was alarmed. “Are you sure?” he asked Allura. 

“If this is the home of Altean alchemy then Voltron will make it through.” She stood her ground. 

“And what if it’s just another nuclear explosion in space?” Lance asked. “Then we’re toast.” 

“Princess,” Coran started. “I think you’ve taken this quest far enough. Lotor is sending you to your doom.” 

“Quite the opposite,” Lotor contradicted. “It is a mission of life discovery.”

“You need to zip it!” Lance snapped. 

“Just saying, if anything goes wrong, I’m killing Lotor,” you threatened. 

“Believe me,” Allura started. “I would never ask any of you to do this if I didn’t know… If I didn’t feel in my heart that it is true. I belong here.” The whole ship went quiet for a moment. Coran lowered his head and inched the ship forward. 

“Okay this is as far as we can go,” Pidge instructed. “Any farther and we’ll be affected by the radiation.” 

Coran stopped the castle and you watched as the paladins went to their lions. Your heart sank. It felt like you were sending them to their deaths. You didn’t trust this, but Allura did. Allura put her trust in someone she once saw as a sworn enemy and you were just hoping she didn’t make the wrong decision. 

“Lotor, for your sake this better not kill them,” you growled. At this point you definitely in mother bear mode. Voltron formed, but you stayed focussed on Lotor. Then the wormhole opened and you watched Voltron zip into it without hesitation. You took Coran’s hand and waited. There were struggles and such over the communicator. At some point all the paladins were screaming. 

“What have you done?!” Coran asked Lotor. “Wait what’s happening to your face?” You looked at Lotor in surprise. 

“What?” He asked. 

“You have Altean markings,” Coran said. “And they’re glowing.” 

“The mark of the chosen.” He said touching his face.

“Yeah chosen to fight!” You jumped at Lotor but Coran held you back. “You need to get out of there!” Lotor said to the paladins. “That thing is a guardian! It will only allow worthy Alteans through.” 

“Thanks for the tip!” Lance yelled back. 

A beam of light blasted from the white hole and came directly at the castle. It disintegrated the particle barrier in seconds. The castle shook and started going dark.

“All systems shutting down!”Coran panicked. “Our stabilizers aren’t working! We’re listing into the graveyard!” Voltron came out of the white hole but instantly got shot by a beam of light. It forced the lions to separate. The paladins couldn’t control their lions. They just drifted. They left their lions and made their ways back to the castle. 

“I managed to restore auxiliary power, but it won’t last long,” Coran said standing from the control panel. “If we don’t get the castle running in the next quintant we’ll be out of air.”

“Maybe we can decrease our breathers by one,” Lance glared at Lotor. 

“I second that,” you agreed. 

“Uh, what’s up with your face?” Hunk asked Lotor. 

“Yeah, and if this is the home of Altean alchemy, why can’t Voltron get in?” Pidge asked. 

“I am sorry to put us in this position, but I think I know the answer. Look at Allura,” Lotor instructed. You all did. Her marks were glowing as well. 

“You have them too” Allura smiled at Lotor. 

“They’re called the Mark of the Chosen,” he explained. You looked to Coran for a moment. His marks didn’t glow, but he was staring at Lotor and Allura. You knew exactly what he was thinking. “They indicate those worthy of entering Oriande.”

“Wait, why aren’t Coran’s marks glowing?” Shiro asked. 

“There are different types of Alteans,” Lotor explained. “Allura possesses a deep connection to ancient Altean energy. It enables her to operate the teludav and change her shape and size. Her father had greater alchemic understanding than anyone before him. Others are less magical, no offense.” Coran glared at Lotor for a second. 

“So what now?” Hunk asked. 

“Allura and I need to enter the white hole together.” Lotor said. Red flags shot up for you, but you couldn’t say anything. If they didn’t try, you’d all be dead soon anyways. 

“Absolutely not!” Coran yelled. “What about that monster?!” 

“The monster is a guard keeping the unworthy out,” Lotor said. “It won’t hurt us.”

“And before you thought it wasn’t going to hurt us!” Lance refuted. 

“How are you even going to get there? We’re stuck.” Pidge pointed out. 

“We can use the personal transport crafts,” Allura said. 

“Allura please, it’s too dangerous.” Coran said gripping Allura’s shoulders. 

“Coran,” you spoke up. “We have to support what she thinks is right.”

“I must gain some sort of alchemic knowledge in Oriande, both to save our own lives and to bring peace to the universe,” Allura said. 

“Coran, don’t tell me you’re going to cave on this!” Lance said. 

“Lance, she’s right,” you said in unison with Shiro. Coran lowered his hands from Allura.

“We’re all dead here anyways if they don’t try,” you sighed. “I don’t like this, but we need to trust Allura.”

“This will work. I can feel it.” Allura reassured. You all reluctantly agreed to have Allura and Lotor go. You watched them fly away.

“Did they make it in?” Lance asked

“I don’t know. I can’t get any readings beyond the edge of the white hole.” Coran said. 

“We’ll just have to wait.” Shiro said. 

You all waited and watched for a few minutes. The you sat on the floor. Coran, Hunk, and Pidge worked to get the ship running again. Lance fidgeted and kept asking what everyone thought Allura and Lotor were doing at the moment. 

“Is this doing anything?” Pidge asked. 

“Do you think she’s alright? Do you think they’ll be able to get back?” Lance asked.

“I don’t think so,” Hunk responded to Pidge.

“You don’t?” Lance panicked.

“He wasn’t talking to you Lance!” Pidge said. 

“Excuse me for being concerned!” Lance huffed. 

“Coran, try to fire the chargers.” Pide instructed. Coran plugged two cords together. 

“It’s just nerve-racking waiting for Allura to come back,” Lance said. 

“I’m afraid they’re dead.” Coran said in response to the chargers not working. 

“WHAT?!” Lance shrieked. 

“Shiro! Can you take Lance?! Please!” Pidge called out. Shiro walked with Lance to the hall. 

Air began to run low. Everyone had to stop working and just lounge around gasping for air. Shiro and Lance came back. Coran leaned against you and rested his head on your shoulder. 

“At least it’s not as bad as my dream,” you said half joking. “I’m suffocating in the void of space, but at least I’m not alone.”

The intercom system called out “Oxygen level 5%” and you laid back with Coran. If you were dying, at least you would die in his arms. 

“Funny huh? This is how I got to you guys in the first place,” you said. Your lungs burned. Breathing just got harder and harder. 

“There must be some way for us to harness the power of the white hole and use it to get the ship working again,” Pidge said in between gasps for air. 

“We’ve tried everything. I don’t think I can keep moving,” Hunk said. You rolled to look at Coran with tears in your eyes. 

“I love you,” you mouthed to him. 

“I love you too,” Coran mouthed back. 

“Guys! Look it’s Allura…” Lance could barely finish his sentence. You lifted your head to see Allura and Lotor coming back. You were determined to stay awake until Allura got back. You heard the door open. Allura sprinted in and stood at her post. The castle came back online. You took a deep breath of air and sat up. You got up too quickly and felt dizzy, but you still managed to help Coran up. Soon everyone could stand.

“You did it.” coran said still out of breath. 

“We… we should have never doubted you,” Lance said. 

“I couldn’t have done it without Lotor,” Allura smiled. 

“You are a true Altean alchemist. Oriande was for you, not for me.” Lotor said. 

Lance looked ticked off at that, but Coran looked defeated. You both had the same thought. 

“So what’s the next step?” Pidge asked. 

“Slow down Pidge. We just started breathing again.” Lance complained. 

“Our next step is rest,” Allura stated. “We could all use some right now.” 

Everyone agreed and slowly made their way to their rooms. You stayed with Coran and Allura as they wormholed the castle away from the white hole. You and Coran walked Allura to her room then made your way to Coran’s.

“So, Lotor and Allura.” You said. 

“I’m afraid so,” Coran sighed. “For right now, I don’t want to think about that. I don’t want to think about anything.” 

“Let’s get some sleep,” you said. However, neither of you slept much at all. You both had too much on your mind. Your eyes were heavy, but you stayed awake thinking about what happens next.


	17. Sleep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy a quick sleep deprived chapter. I got up super early to watch Voltron when it dropped and I can't go to sleep because I'm going to an early showing of The Incredibles 2. RIP ME. BUT ALSO HOW WAS THAT SEASON 6??!!??!! That was wild.

You did manage to sleep for a couple of hours, but when you woke up Coran was still awake. You rolled to look at him and took his hand in yours.

“You really should sleep,” you advised. “We need to be well rested for whatever comes next.”

“I know, I’m just a little shaken.” Coran sighed. 

“Close your eyes and relax.” You ordered in a calm voice. Coran closed his eyes. You hummed a tune and soon Coran was out. You gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead before leaving the room. You went to the kitchen for water and found Lance sitting on a counter. 

“Hey dude, what are you up to?” You asked startling him a little. 

“Oh, nothing. It was just a nightmare.” Lance said. “I didn’t want to be in my room alone so I came here to be… alone.”

“Well, I’m here now. Wanna talk about it?”

“I’d rather not, but I would appreciate if you just hung out with me.” Lance said. 

“Let’s go to the lounge,” you suggested. You and Lance sat on a couch. “You know you can always come see me and Coran if you don’t want to be alone.”

“I don’t want to chance interrupting anything if you catch my drift.” Lance laughed.

“What. No. That’s… no.” You stammered. “I don’t even know if Alteans… Anyways, just knock. We’re here for you Lance.”

“Wait, you haven’t talked to Coran about that?” Lance practically shouted. 

“No and I’m not talking to you about it either.” You stated. “Like I was saying, if you need us we’re there.”

“You know, you were in the dream.” Lance said suddenly. “I was in the red lion and the black lion was trying to attack me. I was calling out to Shiro to make him stop, but he wouldn’t. The black lion got a hold of Red and threw us. When I was able to stop I shot at the black lion, but it moved. I hit your ship. I called out to see if you were okay, but your tiny ship was turned to dust. I felt so guilty when I woke up.”

“It’s just a dream Lance, it’s okay.” You reassured. “Even if it did happen it still wouldn’t be your fault.” Suddenly Coran came in the room. He still looked exhausted. 

“Oh there you are,” Coran said. He flopped down on the couch between you and Lance. 

“Coran, you should be asleep,” you said. 

“I was, I woke up and you weren’t there. I got worried for a minute. Thought I may have missed an announcement or something.” Coran yawned. “Hello Lance.” Coran slurred his words. He couldn’t keep his eyes open. 

“Coran, let’s get you back to bed.” You said. You acted as a crutch and held Coran up. He was beyond tired. Lance got on the other side and helped you walk Coran to his room. You and Lance dropped him in his bed. 

“I love you guys,” Coran said sleepily.

“We love you too Coran,” Lance said. You could feel the warmth in your heart. You and Lance left the room and went back to the lounge. You conversed for a while before Lance fell asleep. You grabbed a blanket from your room and covered him up. Your body was heavy as you went back to Coran’s room. You snuggled close to Coran and soon you were asleep again. 

When you woke up you were still as close to Coran as you could be. He was calm and warm. You finally felt well rested. Your head was clear. Coran began to stir as well. 

“Good morning, gorgeous man,” you smiled. 

“Good morning,” Coran responded. He rolled to his side and gave you a gentle kiss on the forehead. “I love you so much. I just want you to know that.”

“I love you too.” you purred. You stayed next to Coran for a long time before you both decided to get up. You went to the lounge to check on Lance. He was still sound asleep. You and Coran made sure to keep quiet as you made your way to the kitchen. Pidge and Hunk were already in there. 

“How are you guys holding up?” You asked them. 

“We’re doing a lot better than we were yesterday,” Hunk said. “Do you know if Shiro and Allura are up?”

“No, all I know is that Lance is still asleep in the lounge. I’ll go check the bridge.” You said. Coran went with you of course. Allura and Shiro were on the bride. They were taking a transmission from Lotor.

“Good, I will see you in three quintants, princess. I’ll be looking forward to it.” Lotor said signing off. 

“So three days until our next near death experience huh?” You joked. 

“I’m going to help Lotor with his ships using what I learned on Orinade.” Allura cheered. 

“Allura, do you mind if we talk?” You asked. Allura agreed and you both went to her room. “Look, this may be awkward to talk about, but do you like Lotor?” Allura looked beyond shocked. 

“I-I,” Allura stammered. “I have to admit, there might be something there.” She finally confessed. 

“I thought so,” you said almost disappointed. You snapped out of it realizing you might hurt Allura’s feelings. “Just be careful with him, alright? I think it might be safe to trust him, but just in case, be careful.”

“You would be supportive of us?” Allura asked. 

“I’m supportive of you, Allura. If something happens between you and Prince Lotor, I will be supportive as long as he treats you well. If he hurts you or betrays your trust I will snap him like a twig,” you said. “I’m sure Coran will do the same. We just want to make sure you’ll be okay.”

“I appreciate you being so worried about me,” Allura smiled. “Coran is like a second father to me and I’m very happy he’s with you. Just know that if you ever hurt him then I’ll snap you like a twig.”

“Understood. I don’t think I could hurt him though. I really love him. He’s perfect.” You trailed off a little. “Anyways, stay safe with Lotor. And, if you want to practice that Altean alchemy, I have an old ship you can work on.” 

“I might just take you up on that offer,” Allura said. 

You were so proud of Allura. In the amount of time you know her, she had grown so much. She was a leader. After the whole Oriande trip, you knew you could follow Allura anywhere. Coran was doing a great job with her.


	18. UPDATE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo. I have been on one hell of a hiatus. Times got bad and I fell out of writing a bit but I've been working on a different fic so now I want to come back to this one. I have finals this week so the next real update might not be until next week (depending on how I feel after season 8). I left off on season 6 I believe? I need to go back and read over this again. I was just going to skip ahead and end this with reader not going back to Earth but I don't want to do that. Coran stans deserve better. So, let's all hope I get the motivation to finish this! yee haw

(Story will resume in next chapter)


	19. Sickness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi I wrote half this chapter 6 months ago and didn't go back to read before finishing it. So it's short and bad. I am going to try to finish this story. It might feel a little rushed but that is because Season 8 broke my heart into a million pieces and I do not want to rewatch anything Voltron for a while. I really like to stick to canon so I will suck it up and continue. I still love Coran a whole hell of a lot so I really want to finish this story.   
> I'm really sorry I took like a six month hiatus. I fell out of writing and now I'm just trying to get back into the swing of things. I might try to make updates regular, but knowing me I'll just update when I finish a chapter.

Your day carried on as usual. You finally got to relax some. However at some point in the day you felt your body get heavy. You started getting dizzy while you were playing video games with Hunk and Pidge. You stood up to leave the room and you instantly fell to your knees. Your entire body was weak and nausea overtook you. Pidge and Hunk rushed to your side. 

“Hey are you okay?” Pidge asked. Hunk helped you to your feet. 

“I’m just not feeling well suddenly,” you said. 

“Let’s get you to your room.” Hunk said. You started walking to your room with Hunk and Pidge at your side. You stopped outside of a restroom and had to run in quickly. You threw up. 

You washed your face and hands before leaving the restroom. Your pale reflection stared back at you in the mirror for a while. You finally went back out to Hunk and Pidge. You must have looked worse than you did going into the restroom because they looked extra worried. They walked you to your room and set you on your bed. 

“Thanks you guys,” you groaned. 

“I’ll go make you some soup.” Hunk said.

“And I’ll go get you a trash can or something just in case you hurl again,” Pidge said. They both left the room. You wiggled under your blanket and felt the room spin around you. You felt like you were going to fall out of your bed. There was a knock at the door followed by Coran immediately coming in. He had a trash can in hand. 

“Pidge told me what happened! Are you okay?” Coran asked in his dramatic manor. 

“I’m fine, just feeling a little sick.” You croaked. It came on so suddenly. You really didn’t know where it came from. Human ailments shouldn’t really be on the ship and even if they were you would have gotten sick long before you did because your immune system wasn’t used to whatever it was. 

Coran sat by your side and held your hand. Something was different. His glove was off. Coran almost never took his gloves off. He did sometimes when his work was tough, but he never really did it in tender moments. His usual get up didn’t show much skin. You’d seen pictures of him when he was younger. He used to show off his arms a lot. Feeling his hand on yours was strange but it was nice. 

“You feel warm,” Coran said. He kissed your forehead. “You are definitely warmer than usual.” Coran held your face with his hand. 

“Do you think a pod would work?” You asked him. 

“I’m not sure,” Coran admitted. “The infirmary pods are mostly for injuries not ailments. Would you like to try it though?” Hunk walked in with a bowl of soup and a cold compress.

“Who needs a pod when you have Hunk?” you smiled. 

“Oh am I interrupting anything?” Hunk asked. 

“Not at all,” you said. You sat up some. Hunk put the cold compress on your forehead and he gave you the soup. “Thank you so much Hunk.”

“It’s nothing. I’m sure you would do the same.” Hunk smiled. “Just let me know if you need anything else.” Hunk left the room and you could feel tears in your eyes. 

“He’s a good boy,” you sniffled. 

“I think you need to get some rest after eating,” Coran laughed. You ate the soup and Coran took the bowl. “I’ll check in on you in a little while. You get some rest.” Coran gave you a little pat on the head before leaving. 

You figured you didn’t feel well because of stress. Everything was finally catching up with you. You didn’t want to get the other humans on board sick if it was a virus or something. You wanted to stay quarantined in your room, but Hunk and Coran checked on you every so often. You were grateful, you just didn’t want them to get sick too. 

When the castle docked at Galra headquarters you stayed on board. You were feeling a little better, but you didn’t really want to see Lotor again. It was only a matter of doboshes before everyone came back. The paladins had to fly off to defend a planet against Sendak. You managed to make your way out of your room and to the bridge to see the lions go through a wormhole. Coran stood at his post.

“You must have been lonely before,” you said almost starling Coran. “When all the paladins flew out and you were alone. I mean I know before Keith left you had Allura, but now he’s gone and she’s out there.”

“Are you feeling better?” Coran asked. 

“A little. I still feel weak, but I’m fine. I think the worst is over.” You said. Coran put his arm around you and leaned his head on yours.

“I’m glad you’re okay.” He said. You both sat quietly until the paladins came back. It was nice. As soon as the paladins got back the castle docked again. Allura went off to help Lotor immediately. Hunk, Pidge, and Lance followed soon after. Shiro stayed on board with you and Coran. 

“How’d the mission go Shiro?” You asked. 

“It was strange…” He sighed. “We managed to fix things, but I just wasn’t myself.”

“What else is new?” You laughed. “You should take a break. You guys have all been working hard.”

“Maybe when the others get back we can play Monsters and Mana!” Coran said. 

“We can play what now?” You asked. 

“Monsters and Mana!” Coran repeated. “It’s a fantasy game.”

“That sounds-” suddenly you fell to your knees with a groan. You felt weak and cold. Coran and Shiro both immediately rushed to help you up. The room spun. “I don’t think I’m doing as well as I thought…”

Coran helped you to your room and had you lay on the bed. He sat next to you and stroked your hair. 

“I haven’t been sick like this in a long time,” you sighed. “I’ll be okay though. I promise.”

“Get some rest,” Coran said softly. “If this keeps up I’ll just have to take you all the way to Earth so they can heal you.” 

“No need to go back to Earth just for me,” you smiled. “I’ll be fine, Coran. You should go play that game you were talking about. Relax for a while. I’m sure I’ll be back on my feet as soon as I wake up.” Coran kissed you on the forehead before leaving your room. You sat in silence until you gently drifted to sleep.


End file.
